Chapters 9, 10, and 11

Atticus With the Rifle

Times have been rough lately since Atticus has accepted to defend a black mans case in court. Atticus claims that he couldn't deny the case and still have self-respect. Word has spread around town about this and kids at school always bring it up. I almost got into a fight with a kid named Cecil Jacobs for speaking negatively towards my father, but I promised Atticus that I wouldn't let the situation bring me down, so I just walked away. Things didn't go so smoothly with my cousin though. During Christmas time, my Aunt Alexandra's Grandson, Francis called Atticus a "nigger-lover". Well, one thing led to another and I beat the nasty Francis. I hope he learned his lesson. Even though everyone calls my father some mean things, I grown to have a new look on Atticus. I use to think the he was just older then everyone else fathers and could never do anything other then read, while the other fathers would go hunting and fishing. My opinion changed though when a mad dog appeared down the street, walking towards our house. Atticus comes to the house with the sheriff who asks if Atticus could shoot the dog with the rifle he had. To Jem's and my amazement, Atticus kills the dog with one shot from quit far away. Miss Maudie told us that Atticus use to be the best shot in the county. I really was shocked I never knew this before.

Jem and I Reading to Mrs. Dubose

There is also this old lady in our neighborhood named Mrs. Dubose who says harsh think about my father. It is weird because usually I hear it from the kids at school, but never from a grown adult. Jem lashed out one day and ruined all of Mrs. Dubose's bushes (with my baton by the way!). I don't know what was going through Jem's head because Atticus told him to be a gentlemen towards her since she was a sick old women, and I don't see destroying an old lady's bushes as gentlemen like. As punishment for doing this, Jem had to read to Mrs. Dubose every day for a month. I join Jem since I would be lonely with him gone all the time. During these reading sessions, Mrs. Dubose was have these fits that Jem and I wouldn't understand, but as soon as they happen we are forced to leave. A month or so after our time was up and we were free to go, Atticus gave us the news that Mrs. Dubose has passed on and was a morphine addict. He gave Jem a box from Mrs. Dubose which contained a white flower from the bush Jem had destroyed from the beginning. I hope this means that she forgave Jem.

Chapters 6, 7 and 8

Dill and Jem Going to the Radley's House

On Dills last day in Maycomb, so he and Jem made a plan to sneak over the Radleys house and look through the windows and find out if they could see anything. I try to stop them but end up joining them in the processes. We went during the night but our plan quickly failed when Nathan Radley showed up with a shotgun and fired it. Luckly we escaped by going under the fence in the school yard but Jem caught his pants in the fence and had to take them off to free himself quickly enough. That raised some eyebrows when we came house and the whole neighborhood was gathered to see what the ruckus was about. Dill told everyone that we were playing strip poker which just alarmed everyone even more. Later that night, to keep from getting caught in what we were really do that night, Jem goes out to retrieve his pants. When he came back he seemed disheveled but he didn't say anything, he just went back to bed with out a word. Eventually Jem told me what happened that night. He said when he went back to get his pants, they were mended and hung neatly over the fence.

Also I have started the second grade. It is as bad as it was in first grade, but Jem assured me that it gets better. In the fall, Jem and I have been passing by the tree with the knot in the whole and each time their is something new in it. On day we were going to leave a note in there thanking who ever is leaving the presents for us, but when Jem went to put it in the tree it was filled with cement! It turns out Nathan Radley filled it with cement because he claims it was dying. When we brought it to Atticus's attention though he said that it wasn't dying, and it look as healthy as it could be.

Miss Maudie's Burning house

In other events, I experienced my first snow fall! School was closed and everything. Jem and I made a snow man as best as we could out of dirt and covered it with snow. We turned it into looking like Mr. Avery but Atticus told us to change its look. In the middle of that night, Atticus woke me and Jem up and we all went outside. To my surprise Miss Maduies house was on fire and the neighborhood was helping her save her furniture. Sadly he house didn't make it, but the firemen stopped the fire from spreading to other houses. Later on, Atticus bring to my attention that I had a blanket on me that I didn't have when I left the house. Jem says that it must of been Boo Radley and tell Atticus everything that strange that has been happening to us, even the part about the pants. Atticus tell us to keep this all to ourselves. That nearly made me sick to my stomach thinking about that. Oh, and by the way Miss Maudie was strangely alright about her house burning down. She said she was planning to get a smaller one so she could have a bigger garden anyway, so I guess that's good news.

Chapters 4 and 5

Radley's Tree

I am now out of school since it is summer vacation. The school year felt like it went by very slow, everyday is practically the same. Except for one particular day when I was walking rapidly past the Radley's house like I usually do but then something caught my eye. It was a tinfoil sticking out of a knot hole one of the Radley's oak tree. My curiosity got the best of me and I reached in it and found out it was two pieces of chewing gum! I told Jem about this when he got home and he just got worried about me chewing both pieces and made me spit them out. On the last day of school though Jem and I were walking home together and we passed the hole in the tree. This time  found two Indian head pennies. Jem told me that they were really old and give good luck. We decided to keep them.

Dill, Jem and I.

In other news Dill is came back to Maycomb. We started this new game called "Boo Radley". Basically we just act out the roles of the Radley family members. Miss Maudie, one of my neighbors, told me some things about Boo Radley. She said that he had a harsh father, but was polite and friendly when he was a kid though she thinks that he is probably crazy now. Later on, I found out that Dill and Jem wrote a note to Boo asking him if he wanted to get some ice cream with them. They made me keep watch with Dill while Jem tried to get the note through one of the windows. Atticus caught us in the act though and told us to stop bothering Boo, and that was that.

Chapter 3

Burris Ewell

Today was another wonderful day at school! Not really. A tiny bug crawled out of Burris Ewell's hair. Miss Caroline started to freak out over this and tell Burris to go home and not to return until he has taken a bath. Little does she know that all the Ewell family are very poor and none of them make it past the first day of school, so by sending him home for the day, she is sending him home for the year. After the class explains that to her, she tried to tell Burris to sit back down which makes him very mad. Out of his rage he ends up calling Miss Caroline a "snot-nosed slut of a school teacher", making Miss Caroline cry and ending with Burris leaving the building. The rest of the class tries to comfort Miss Caroline which sort of works and we go on with the day learning.

Atticus and I On the Porch Swing

After Supper today Atticus asked me if I wanted to read with him. Without a word, I went to the from porch to be alone, but Atticus followed me to there. He asked me if there was anything wrong. I told him that I don't think I could go to school anymore and tried to convince him to teach me himself. When he denies my request I go on telling him that Miss Caroline doesn't want us to read together anymore because she claims he is teaching me wrong. He then makes a compromise with me. He told me If I went to school we could continue reading together just as long as I don't tell Miss Caroline we are doing so. I agreed to the terms and everything I alright for now. 

Chapter 2

Miss Caroline

            Today was my first day of school, I'm officially in the first grade. I was pretty excited about going at first, but then I met the teacher. Her name is Miss Caroline. She is new to being a teacher as well as new to our town Maycomb. She isn't very familiar in how the town works, and doesn't do that well with teaching kids. For example, she told me that I was "too educated" and my dad had to stop teaching me things because he wasn't doing it properly. This got me upset now this means my dad wont be able to read with me before bed anymore. I talked to my brother about this all, but he just told me that  it's a new method that she was trying out. I don't think it is a very good one.
                                             

Walter Cunningham

                                                         
                    Later, during lunch Miss Caroline was making a big fool out of herself. She kept on insisting that Walter Cunningham should borrow a quarter from her to buy himself lunch and to pay her back the next day. Little did she know that Walters family was very poor, and that he wouldn't ever be able to pay her back. Walter tried to deny the offer as nicely as he could which just made Miss Caroline get frustrated  I tried to step in and explain Walters situation, but I suppose I said something wrong because next thing I know Miss Caroline slapped my hand with a ruler in front of the whole class. I don't think I ever want to go back to that class.