Alex Martiros

Alex Martiros
Jacob I Have Loved
Katherine Paterson
Historical Fiction
Holiday
102

1. Right now in the book Jacob I Have Loved, by Katherine Paterson, Wheeze, or Sara Louise Bradshaw has just found Trudy Braxton, a community member from Rass Island, where they all live, on the floor of her house. Wheeze thinks she is dead, and she runs back to where she was hanging out with her best friend Call, and Captain Hiram Wallace. They had been doing work on the Captain's house when a cat, belonging to Trudy, or Auntie Braxton, wandered in. Wheeze volunteers to get the cat back to Auntie Braxton's house, so she carries it there. Wheeze thinks she can shove the cat through an open window when she sees a group of cats that also belong to Auntie Braxton, walking all over a body on the ground. Wheeze freaks out, immediately coming to the conclusion that Auntie Braxton is dead, and races back to Captain Wallace's house. She yells at him through heavy breathing that she found Auntie Braxton on her floor and she thinks that the older woman is dead. The Captain and Call run with Wheeze back to the old woman's house and Captain checks her pulse. He says she is still alive but she will need to go to the hospital. Wheeze runs home on the captain's command and gets her father, and he gets two other strong men. They put Auntie Braxton on a mattress, kind of like a stretcher and take her out to the ferry. The ferry is the only way to go to and from the island. So they take her to the ferry and off she goes to the hospital, with everyone praying for her safe and healthy arrival back to the island. 
2. I feel like the book so far has nothing happen really up until this point. The author is pushing me away as a reader more than she is pulling me in. I say that because I think the book is a good book, and well written. It has lots of detail. Too much detail. There is nothing that makes you want to keep reading. But I do think that there are some interesting factors that could lead to a very good ending. For example, I wonder what will happen to Wheeze. She seems to want to get off the island so badly, and be as far away from her sister as possible. I also wonder what is going to happen with the war, and how Auntie Braxton will end up. But those are some of the few only things that are keeping me reading. The book makes it like there are so many poor people on the island, too. I think that the fact that they are all so poor and that they all live in shacks and go to a 3 or 4 room school is kind of sad, and not really what I look for when I read a book. But I do like all of the characters, even though Call confuses me a lot. 
3. I think that the theme in this book is jealousy. I think this because of mostly Wheeze and her sister, Caroline. Wheeze thinks that Caroline is one of the luckiest people in the world because she is beautiful, smart, extremely talented and over all, better than Wheeze. At least that is what Wheeze thinks. Wheeze also thinks that Caroline is better than her because Wheeze never "gives her parents reason to worry". What that means is Wheeze, when she was born, she was fine, and never had any health problems. Caroline on the other hand, was smaller than normal and couldn't breath very well. She was taken to the hospital for a few days, and all the while her parents worried. Caroline was fine, but from then on wheeze was given all the harder chores and jobs. Wheeze is jealous of how much her parents care for and show more attention to Caroline. Yet another reason why Wheeze is jealous of Caroline is that Caroline has one of the most beautiful singing voices the entire island has ever known, and Wheeze can barely match pitch. Through Wheezes eyes, Caroline is the definition of perfect, and she is down right jealous. So jealous, she lets her imagination get away from her and sometimes dreams of her sister dying, and Wheeze then being the center of attention. But besides Wheeze and Caroline, I think Wheeze is a little bit jealous of how close Call and the Captain have become. Wheeze considered herself to be sort of a heroine for being Calls only friend and all of a sudden the Captain is being Calls "replacement" father. Wheeze is very jealous that Call is being taken away from her and she wants to be able to think that she is Calls "hero".
4. My favorite character in the book is Wheeze because I think she has an interesting view on things. I don't necessarily agree with a lot of her opinions but I think she is very determined and she has a lot of courage. I also think she gets the " big picture". What I mean by that is she understands that her family has to be fed and by catching and selling crabs, she is helping them survive. I also think she knows she will never really be successful on that tiny island and she knows that in order to fulfill her dreams that she will have to leave the island and her family and all that she has ever known. I think she is a lot like me in a way. She is stubborn, courageous and a leader. That's why she is my favorite character.
5. My least favorite character is Wheeze's grandma. I think that she is rude and disrespectful to Wheeze. I also think she is ONLY disrespectful to Wheeze because she thinks Wheeze isn't as perfect as Caroline. Wheeze's grandma never appreciates what Wheeze does for the family and she never realises that Wheeze is actually one of the main reasons why their family isn't starving and poor. Wheeze's grandma has a negative attitude and she seems to always look at things as half empty instead of half full. Shes a pessimist. I think she turns me away as a reader, because she is just really bossy and rude. I know that you have to respect your elders, and all that but I think Wheeze's grandma needs to have a lesson in how to respect others. That's why she is my least favorite character.
6. My prediction for what is going to happen next in the book is that Wheeze is going to either run away or  move off the island. I think this because Wheeze is always saying there isn't anything she can do on the island. I also think that something is going to happen to her father, Caroline or Call. I think this because the author always makes Wheeze think that every day her father could get stuck out to sea. I don't think the author would put in that she worries for her father is something doesn't happen. Another thing that I predict will happen is that Caroline might get really hurt or sick and Wheeze is going to regret everything she has thought about, from trying to get attention away from Caroline or that Caroline might die. I have a feeling also that Call has an important role in all this but I am unsure of what it might be. These are my predictions.