Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie Literary Essay Response

 

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick is a story about a young boy in middle school named Steven Alper. As the story progresses, Steven is told that his younger brother, Jeffery, was diagnosed with cancer. At first it was hard for Steven to accept the horrible truth, and for a while he sulks and just drowns in his own sorrow. But eventually throughout the book Steven matures by making personal sacrifices for his brother's benefit, instead of thinking about himself.

 

Steven notices that all the medical bills for Jeffery's therapy are starting to negatively affect his family, and he steps up to the challenge. He decides to give up his precious drum lessons, which he realizes are an unnecessary expense. He sees how he needs to become a man for his family and help them, so he willingly sacrifices something he really loves.

 

Another example was when Steven shaved his head. When Jeffery started losing his hair, and a boy in his class called him "bald" it really upset him. To stop Jeffery from feeling insecure, Steven shaved off all of his hair, so Jeffery wouldn't have to be the only bald one. This shows how much Steven cares for his brother, and how he would change how he looked in order to make his brother feel better.

 

Steven has always been very passionate about drumming, and when he has a huge performance with a long solo, Jeffery gets a fever. Steven has the choice to continue his concert, or to leave with Jeffery. Steven gives up his big moment to shine, and leaves with his brother so he wouldn't have to be alone in the hospital. This shows that Steven would even give up a life changing moment to be there for his brother.

 

By making all of these sacrifices for his brother, Steven matures and becomes a true adult at the end of the book. Although we may not experience something as terrifying as cancer, we all find our own ways to mature, just like Steven.

 



Memoir

     I remember, maybe two years ago, when I received the news. It wasn’t the good type of news that you get from a handwritten letter in the mail, or a party invitation. It was the bad news; something a child always dreads, like when their parent walks up to them and says, “Listen darling, we’ve got some bad news and some good news. Which would you like to hear first?” And of course, you can’t help but say good news first, and for a second you are overjoyed, only for it to vanish a moment later when the bad news is told.

     It had been an excellent morning, and surprisingly warm for the winter months, on the day my mom told me everything. But of course, the horrible damp cloth of the news had come to drape itself over my great day. I was sitting on the edge of my bed, just contemplating life, I suppose, when my mom walked in. Her face was flushed and tightly drawn against her pronounced cheekbones. Her throat kept making a strange sound like a “click click” like it does when she is upset. “Isobel,” she said, “I just got a phone call from grandma-“ “Did you tell her I said hi?” I interrupted. “Yes, but,” “But what?” I retorted. “Grandpa Harry has…he has…passed away”, she blurted out. As those words left her mouth, the world just disappeared, and it was just my mom and I, no one else. Her words echoed in my head like a very repetitive song. “Passed away, passed away, passed away.” My ears must have heard her correctly, but my heart didn’t believe it. How could he be gone, just like that? In a split second someone so important to me had vanished, so quickly my mind couldn’t comprehend it. My thoughts were ramming into each other, causing a ruckus in my head, but through all that I managed to croak, “how?” “Oh, darling, it was a heart attack, no one could have known it would happen,” my mom replied. It was then that reality crashed into me, and the truth, the sheer simplicity of his death, was all clear. That was it. He was gone and he wasn’t coming back. I was at a loss for words. I just let the tears flow down my face like a cascading waterfall. My memories of him raced through my mind. Us watching the Olympics together, when I couldn’t chose who I wanted to win gymnastics. When I finally beat him at chess, and he smiled so wide it lit up all the whole room, “I’m proud of you”, he had said. The time he read me his favorite book while I sat on his lap, and we both slowly fell asleep. All those times were the last I would ever have with him. My mom didn’t try to say everything was going to be fine because it wasn’t. She just held me close and let me cry. 

READING RESPONSE: THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO BY PATRICK NESS

I have just started to read a book called The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, and so far it has been wonderful to read. It is about a young boy called Todd Hewitt, who lives in a strange world where everyone can hear each other's "noise", which is basically inner thoughts. Apparently, there was a huge war, and the opposing side let out a "noise germ", which killed all the women and allowed men to hear each other's thoughts. One day, Todd is just doing his everyday chores when something completely unexpected happens. He is rushed off into the dreaded swamp by his guardians, and told to run away and "warn them". Todd is very confused because all the towns and villages had been destroyed in the war, except for where he lived, so where was he supposed to go? Never the less, he was thrown out in a lot of chaos and he began his quest to "warn them".

I predict that when Todd goes on hie journey, he will find something related to t he noise, like maybe another germ. He will probably get through most obstacles due to his experience and how determined he is. In the beginning of the story, Todd was just a scared young boy who did everything he was told. As the story progressed, he rose to the occasion and became a man, willing to follow his quest to the very end.

Patrick Ness is an amazing author He uses many descriptive words to enhance his writing. He also adds flashbacks into specific chapters to reveal important information about the characters, which I think is really great.

In conclusion,I love this book and I can't wait to read more.I highly recommend it.