Nick Newman
Never Fall Down
Patricia McCormick
Historical Fiction
Just Right
30
1. Currently I am reading Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick. Right now something huge in the book is about to happen. Arn's small village in Cambodia is about to be bombed by the US to get rid of the Khmer Rouge. Little does Arn know that the Americans are coming for that reason, not just for fun. So the Khmer Rouge gather everyone from the village and migrated to a work camp. Arn must face separation from his family and friends, especially being away from the girl that he loves, who happens to be his neighbor. He must get used to no seeing her every day. No more watching her from a tree outside. At least Arn has his older brother. His mother, youger sister, and aunt must work in an all women group. If Arn follows all the Khmer Rouges' guidlines he will live. That is all that is going on right now.
2. So far this book is very good. The author gives a lot of detail about what is happening. I like that in books. But the book is very sad. How the Khmer Rouge take people to work camps, they are supposed to be helping the village, not enslaving them! I do like this book. I think that the reason that this is HF is really pulling me in this book. I mean that this really happened!? I would have been scared for my life if I knew that I would be enslaved by brutal soldiers armed with large firearms and such and that my village would be bombed by the US! My opinion of this book varies. Sometimes I can laugh at the book and think this book is really good, but sometimes when someone dies like in the Killing Fields I would say that this book is pretty sad.
3. The theme that I have noticed so far is teamwork. The reason that I have noticed this theme more than anything is because all the men and all the women must learn to work together with their work groups to overcome fear and pain. So no one dies. So no one cries. So no one feels as much pain as torture. They don't deserve that. They work for freedom. They work for their families care. They can stand it, but not for long. No one deserves to be treated this way by some soldiers. And I mean no one. Teamwork. A great objective to achieve. They must all work together to be set free. But even if they do work as hard as they can, they can be brought to killing fields and die without reason, without any chance to live. Before they were moved to a work camp, they were still poor. Arn had to work by gambling and selling ice cream with his brother. The Khmer Rouge are unfair and cruel. They slashed the tires of a rich mans Mercedes because that man wouldn't give the soldier a bike. They don't have a say! Even if they do try to talk back they die. The soldiers are the masters and the people the slaves. The people need love and care. They will definetely NOT get love and care from the Khmer Rouge. As I said in the first question, the Khmer Rouge are supposed to be helping these poor people. They fight the war for them and won. But then, just because the US are going to bomb their village, the Khmer Rouge didn't think about having them move to a new, easy going village. No. They move them to a village where the villagers work all day. Some even work all night! Their freedom is taken away without any say from the villagers. Even kids must work. Some die because they do not know that they aren't allowed to take a break or something. They don't get a warning. The Khmer Rouge just come and bring them to their death.
4. My favorite character is Arn. Even though he is only 12 years old, he can deal with working at a labor camp. He shows strength through hard times. I mean he earns his own money by playing games with kids and adults. He is easy going and happy all the time. Even when the Khmer Rouge came to the village, Arn played soccer with a guard. Arn doesn't care about all the things that are going on in his life. He takes charge of situations and knows how to handle things. The Khmer Rouge are brutes though. If Arn gets too reckless he could get put down. Eventually though, he must deal with being a soldier. More than half of the Khmer Rouge are already teenagers. The older Khmer Rouge gather them and tell them they are soldiers. They get no say in that. Women and girls even make up some of the population of the Khmer Rouge. I really want to know how Arn takes it being a soldier. I wonder if he will be as happy and easy going then. Or maybe he will still make his own choices. Maybe he will still take charge. Will he survive as a young soldier? Maybe, maybe not. But I know that he will always be that one young person who knows what he can do. That is why he is my favorite character.
5. My least favorite character is one of the Khmer Rouge woman. She is a cruel and mean soldier who thinks she can't be touched because she is a woman. No. Now she is a soldier. She is treated like every other soldier. She is the Khmer Rouge soldier who slashed the tire of the rich mans Mercedes because the bike was not given to her. The Khmer Rouge woman also pushed around the girl that Arn loves with all his heart. This soldier is a soldier who stole from every single last person in the whole village. The way she did was when the villagers were getting their work clothers which were just black pajamas. When the people stripped she would go around and search the pockets of everyones' clothes and take whatever was in the pockets. So if (this didn't actually happen)she found the car keys to the Mercedes that the rich man, she could do whatever with it. She has no limits, she cannot be stopped from being so brutal to everyone. That is why she is my least favorite character.
6. My prediction for what happens next is that Arn finally becomes a soldier. I really can't predict how he will take that in though. Also something bad might happen to one of his family members or the girl that he loves so much. I hope not though. Arn would be devastated if anyone that he has so close to his heart is taken out of his life and murdered without chance. I don't want to go on and on again about how I feel about the villagers having no say as soon as the Khmer Rouge enter (more like invade)the village. So all I will say is that I hope something good happens to the people of the work camp. Atleast one thing good that overcomes the camp. That is all that I hope. The last thing that I predict is that Arn might get hurt because he was still being a little reckless. Those are my predictions for what will happen next in the book Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick.
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