A.J. Ward

A.J. Ward
Borderlands
Peter Carter
Historical Fiction
Challenge
92

1. Right now the main character Ben, and his brother Bo are leaving their hometown of Clement for the city of Abilene. Ben, and Bo's mother just died and before she died she borrowed money from the preacher Taylor. Since she was dead, and couldn't pay off her debts Taylor took the house, the only thing that they own, from the boys. Now the boys have to go from southern Texas all the way to Kansas to look for jobs. Things are not looking good for these two main characters.

2. So far the book is Okay. It has taken a long time to go anywhere, so it can be boring. However I like the author's writing style because this book is a western and it's different from what I usually read. I wouldn't normally pick out a book like this, but I am reading it for Social Studies extra credit and so far it's not bad.

3. The main theme that I see so far is companionship. Ben and Bo really only have each other because both of their parents are dead, and they have no idea where there sister, Flo, is. Ben and Bo have to have each other's back's also. Especially Bo because he is the eldest sibling, Ben is only fourteen.

4. My favorite character so far is Bo. He really tries to stand up for Ben and himself when the Preacher takes there land. Usually I like the main character the most but, in this book the main character, Ben, is pretty bland. He never does, or says anything particularly interesting. The reason I like Bo is because he is really the only nice, person that has any personality.

5. My least favorite character is the boys' sister Flo. She ditched them when she was eighteen to get married. The boys sent her a letter after their mother died asking her if she wanted to come down for the funeral and to see them. She wrote back saying no, she didn't want to come down and that if they sold the house 1/3 of it was hers. I thought that it was horrible that she could abandon her brothers like that and still ask for their money, that is why she is my least favorite character.

6. Next I predict that Ben, and Bo will make it to Abilene. Then they can hopefully find jobs and live normal lives. Taylor the preacher suggested that they get themselves into the cattle transporting business, because there is a shortage of cows in Texas maybe that is what they will do. They also might run into trouble on the way to Abilene.