Independent Reading

This week I read "How I found the strong" by Margaret McMullan.Abraham Lincoln has just declared war.Pa and Henry had to go to war.The two of them can't write their family because they can't read or write.They have a slave that works for them.In early winter they are in the middle of a drought.Right now this story is taking place in 1861.It is christmas day and Buck,the slave, has got his christmas gift on.Buck gives shanks a knapsack and tells him that it might make a good pair of shoes.Grandma has been in bed since Grandpa left and she has now died.When Shanks returns from telling someone that his gradmother died, his mother was having the baby.An escaped soldier helped deliver the baby.The next day the preacher came to help bury grandma.Shanks went over to Irenes and stayed the night.Sometime went by when he went back and he found out that Irene's pa had died.In the fall of 1862 pa came home.He lost a few toes to frostbite and his arm was missing.Henry died while in the war,pa won't say how.Pa Buck,and shanks went to the preacher's house to get some food.They were out of everything.Late one night some townspeople came and forced Buck out of his shack.Because he was scared of water they forced him in the water head first.When the townspeople finally freed Buck,Pa decided to walk with him a piece and gave him the papers to free him.Pa gave him directions on which way to go and how to build a fire that would have less smoke.When Pa and shanks were by the river he asked Pa how henry died and he told him.Some soldier attacked Pa and shanks had to shoot him.When Pa was freed he had been stabbed in his chest.His Pa told him to go on without him but he refused to.When they made it home everyone thought that they had been killed.The preacher and his wife were their and had dinner prepared.Irene kissed shanks on his right cheek.A lot of things had changed since the war began Grandma and Henry died,Grandpa left and never returned,Ma had Bit and then she later had another son.They had more money then,Pa and I was building me house.Finally I was being caleed but my name Frank and not shanks.