Drummer Boy Of Shiloh By Ray Bradbury

     One of the themes of "The Drummer Boy Of Shiloh" by Ray Bradbury is have self-confidence. The theme of confidence is referenced many times in the story,  mainly involving the General encouraging the main character, Joby, to believe in himself because he is the "heart of the army." The General persuades Joby to love  the position he was given, to not fear or hate it. The General tells him that by beating the drum at a fast pace, the hearts of the soldiers would beat fast, and they would fight harder and not die. He also tells Joby that he is the "General when the general is left behind." Hearing the General's speech, Joby grows more confident in himself, and he learns to respect his position. Self-confidence can be very important. For example, the General tells Joby that if he has confidence, so will the army. Joby's confidence can save thousands of soldiers from dying.

     I don't have loads of self-confidence. Sometimes I wonder why I'm even here, and frequently wish that I was someone else. But I have friends who tell me to be more confident in myself, who reassure me, and this reassurance, much like the General's, can make a person feel strong.

Review: Wither By Lauren DeStefano

     Over the summer, I read the book Wither By Lauren DeStefano. Wither takes place in the future, a world where the cure for cancer goes horribly wrong and causes males to only live to age twenty-five and females to the age of twenty. Rhine Ellery is a sixteen year old girl living in New York, when she is kidnapped and brought to Florida to be put into a polygamous marriage. Rhine, together with her sister wives Cecily, Jenna, and a servant boy named Gabriel, must escape their wretchedly beautiful prison, back into the real world, before their time runs out. 
     Rhine's relationships with other characters are intricate and interesting. Her youngest sister wife, Cecily, who is only thirteen, has a bubbly stubbornness to her that makes her seem like an antagonist at times, but her intentions are always good. Linden, Rhine's husband, is sweet, innocent, and charming. He has no idea that the wives he didn't select to marry were shot to death in the back of a truck. Rhine loves and despises Linden at the same time. I think that her despise for him is sorely based on her hatred for his father, Housemaster Vaughn. The only thing I can really say about Housemaster Vaughn is that he is creepy. He takes corpses of the people claimed by the virus, and dissects them in his basement, hoping to find a cure. Housemaster Vaughn is the real antagonist in this story.
      In Wither, some of the themes can be quite disturbing and mature. For instance, Cecily gives birth when she is only thirteen, my age. The father is twenty-one, which is strange and unacceptable. Also, Jenna, another sister wife, was forced to live as a prostitute before she was abducted for marriage by Housemaster Vaughn. 
      I recommend this book to eighth graders and high-schoolers. It is an exciting, riveting read that will leave you on the edge of your seat waiting for the next book.