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Do I belong here-Jeff Hirsch-scholastic press-9/1/2011-278
Character Description
The main Character is fifteen-year-old Stephen Quinn.Stephen's dad is an important character because He helps Stephen survive and then his dad is his motivation for a while when he goes unconscious.Jenny is an important character in the plot because She brings Stephen to the realization that he has to live in the present not the past and she helps him with a lot of things.Marcus helps Stephen and the plot by taking him in and Giving him shelter,food,education,and work.Violet helps Stephen and the plot by Helping and taking care of stephen and his unconscious dad because she is a doctor.The slavers are important to the Plot because they are one of the effects that helped them find Settlers Landing and have an important role with the war at the end.
Plot summary
The book is about Stephen and his das surviving but his dad goes unconscious after an incident then he meets people who bring them to their town.Most people help Stephen and his dad while one family distrusts them named the Henry's thinking their spies after Stephen shot one of them out of fear.Stephen feels as if he doesn't belong there and wants to return to the way he and his dad survived before.Stephen talks to a girl named Jenny who felt the same before and helps him with his emotions.After he is reassured he helps Jenny with a prank where they put explosives near the cattle of family that distrusts Stephen.The Henry's think it's another town that is near them called Fort Leonard that did the prank.The Henry's hire slavers to Fort Leonard but told the rest of the town they were mercenaries.Stephen and Jenny find out the so called mercenaries were actually slavers and told the town.The town go at war with the Henry's and the slavers.After the town beat the Henry's and the slavers,Fort Leonard comes to see what the commotion was about and helped them get back on their feet.Stephen and Jenny's prank and the Henry's hiring the slavers lead to the climax.The climax is a war at the end were the town fight the Henry's and the slavers.The slavers have machine guns,jeeps,automatic guns,and more people.The town seems pinned down and about to lose when Stephen has the great idea to distract the slavers by running across the battlefield into the woods.Once he reaches the woods he meets Jenny and Jackson where they freed the Henry's cattle that was behind the woods behind the slavers.The cattle stampeded the slavers and the town ran them out of Settlers Landing.
Conflict
The main conflict is trying to survive and help the town survive from the apocalypse.During the apocalypse they have to survive from slavers,P11 which is the disease that caused the apocalypse,starvation,dehydration,and natural disasters.For example they traded star wars action figures for supplies and food.
Quotation Explanation
"Sometimes I can't sleep,she wrote,her messy scrawl replaced by small deliberate,letters.Because it's like I can feel the whole world spinning so fast beneath me, and I'm thinking,what am I doing here?Is this where I belong?Do I belong anywhere?Some nights it gets so loud in my head that I want to break something,anything,everything just to make it stop."I feel that the meaning behind this quote is Important to the book,character development,plot,or theme because Stephen feels as if he doesn't belong in the town.He feels as if he doesn't belong there with all the well dressed,taken care of,and groomed people like he was an alien.He felt as if it was all a dream and it wasn't real for people to live so nicely while he lived horribly.
Book review
I think it was a pretty good book with excitement and twists and turns where you don't expect.The story had action,romance,and comedy. It was so well written you felt as if you were stephen there throughout his troubles. The only bad thing with the book was the author write too much for each action for example just taking a step would take a whole chapter