How I Live Now IR Assignment
By: Jonathan Kridle Block 3
Plot Summary: Chapters 1-5
The book begins by introducing the main character Daisy, who is 15 years old, arriving in England from New York. She has been sent off to live with her cousins and her Aunt Penn. She lived in New York previously with her father and his future wife Davina but was sent away to her cousins which she was glad about because she hated Davina. She was picked up by her cousin Edmond who is 14. Even at his age, he was smoking cigarettes and driving a Jeep. Edmond and Daisy drove back to the family's farm in rural England where she was introduced to her cousins Piper, Isaac,and Osbert. She was then taken through the house which had an old English style theme with it. After a couple of days, Daisy was finally introduced to Aunt Penn who works away from the home and will leave the kids alone most of the time. After a few days with being with Aunt Penn, she had to go to Oslo, Norway to a convention about the possible upcoming war.
Plot Summary: Chapters 6-10
Aunt Penn had now left for Oslo and then a couple days later, bombings started occurring around London and there was a lot of panic from the radio and all the things that started to indicate the start of a war. Even though this was occurring, Daisy and the others didn't think anything would happen to a rural English town way outside of the city. Daisy would help Edmond and they would go to town and get food and drinks for Isaac, Piper, and Osbert and they would set up books, blankets, and food in the barn in case of an invasion. A couple of days later, the war was said to have escalated and reached the USA which prevented any chance for Daisy to go back to New York. A few days after that, there was two men that came to there house and asked them questions about things like health and money as the worry of war and what was happening escalated. Around this time, Daisy begins to have feeling for her cousin Edmond and they end up kissing each other.
Plot Summary: Chapters 11-16
A few into the war, there has been an outbreak in smallpox, food is running short, medicine is hard to come by, and communications are down. Daisy and the cousins are trying to live normal but it becomes hard as conditions worsen. Dr. Jameson is a local doctor who has come to their house looking for medicine to treat patients so this shows how the war is getting worse for the civilians. A member of the army comes to their house and looks around and possibly wants them to be separated by gender. The army comes and kicks them out of there house and Daisy and Piper are taken into a truck away from Isaac and Edmond. They were moved to a house with Major McEvoy.
Plot Summary: Chapters 17-22
- At the McEvoy's house, Mr. McEvoy tells Piper and Daisy about stories of war and what was currently going on. Also, Daisy begins to imagine that Edmond is there with her because her love is so strong for him. Every morning, Mr. McEvoy would take Daisy and Piper to the Meadow Brook Farm. Daisy begins to learn some basic military things such as how to shoot a gun while living with Mr. McEvoy. Daisy also gets her first job as an apple picker since the army needed help picking fruits since a lot of people were either infected or sick. After picking apples for about a little over a week, she had to pick broad beans which was much more difficult labor then apples. A few days later, at a check point, Mr. McEvoy is shot dead. A few nights later, soldiers come by the house and tell them that the enemy is shooting people house to house and that they have to evacuate so they travel to an army barn and have to now live there.
Plot Summary: Chapters 23-29
Piper and Daisy leave the barn to go to where Edmond and Isaac are. They have to journey weeks to get there and on that journey, they lived off of berries, hazelnuts, and water. They slept in baskets and on the nights it would rain, they used the grass to provide protection. Three-fourths of the way into the journey, they found the river that would take them straight to where Isaac and Edmond were.They set up tents and made fires along the river side and they would feed on salami and other foods that they brought. A few days later, they made it to the farm and upon entering the town, they found bodies all over the place and they were bloodied and the animals in the town were starving and suffering. They found an abandoned house and made their way for the night into a barn. They found their dog Jet that they lost while switching barns when they were moved by the soldiers. Piper and Daisy eventually made it back to their old house where they first were when they got separated from Edmond and Isaac. Weeks passed without a word for either Isaac or Edmond but one day before they went into town, the phone rang and it was Edmond calling Daisy.
Connection to My Life
This story relates to me in a way because there has been times where i have felt lost and worried. When I was five years of age, I had to move to Germany for my dad's job and I had to get accustomed to a new culture and new way of life. This is similar to how Daisy had to live a different life style because she had to move from a city to a small town just like I did. I have had times where I was frightened because I didn't know anything just like how Daisy was constantly worried about Edmond during the time they were separated.