Chapter 6

Pa went to town one day to trade furs he has been saving. So that night Ma and Laura head to the barn where they are going to milk the cows. They see a cow outside the barn, which is odd, and Ma hollers at the cow to go back in the barn and slaps it. When Laura moves the lantern at a better angle, they both realize it was a bear!! So Ma and Laura hurry back in the house.
When Pa gets home, he tells his story about coming home and seeing a bear himself. Because he had so many furs, he couldn't take his gun with him, and on the way home he regretted that because when he was walking home, he saw a bear standing in the middle of the road! So he picks up a club and runs at it, only to realize it's a stump!

Response- Holy crap! I would be freaking out if I was Laura's Ma, slapping a bear? With my luck it would eat me alive...

Chapter 5

This one starts talking about what they do (or don't do) on Sundays. They get their baths on Saturday night and they can't do anything real exciting, because it's Sunday. One Sunday, Laura started playing with Jack, their bulldog, and Pa almost ridiculed her, but ends up telling her and Mary a story about his father and a pig and a sled. When Pa was a little boy one Sunday he and his brothers left the house so they could sled down the hill just once. When they were sledding a pig walked in front of their path and landed on the sled! The pig squealed so loud that it woke up their father from his nap. Pa and his brothers knew that they were doomed when they went back in the house. After the story they went to bed.
In the morning Pa woke them up and told Laura that it was her birthday and she got a few presents and Pa played the fiddle.

Response- That would be awesome to sled down a huge hill and have a pig get on the sled!! They probably couldn't sit comfortably though for a few weeks, the way Pa talked about how pissed his father was..

Chapter 4

Christmas is almost here and Laura's family is coming over! The family does a lot to get ready for them, with food and cleaning. Uncle Peter and Aunt Eliza come over with their kids Alice, Ella, and Peter. They come over on Christmas Eve and the kids played all day long. On Christmas morning, the kids opened their stockings and they all had new red mittens and peppermint sticks. Laura was the only one to get another present. She got her very own rag doll and she named it Charlotte. Laura now doesn't have to ask her sister Mary to see her rag doll anymore! The whole family then had their big Christmas meal and Uncle Peter and the rest of his family had to get ready to go because they had a long way to go.


Response- It's really sad how in 100 some years Christmas has come from getting 2 gifts to more than 20! Laura can really explain how things were back then, even though she was 6!

Chapter 3

This one starts out with Laura talking about Pa's gun, how he cleans it, and what everything else dealing with his gun is. She says her and Mary watch him clean it because right after he tells them stories. The story in this chapter is about when Pa was a little boy. When Pa was younger, he had to bring the cows home from inside the woods. Grandpa always told him to hurry and not mess around. One day he left earlier than usual so he thought he had time to play. He ended up playing till dusk and he had to hurry to find the cows. By the time it was dark he still couldn't find them. He called for them, but he got no response. A little later he tried again, and someone answered, "Who?" and it scared Pa so he ran home. He got whipped and scolded because he was scared of a screech owl!

Response- I've seen my dad clean one of his rifles before, so nothing in this chapter surprised me or anything, except for Pa being scared of an owl. Ha.

Chapter 2

This chapter starts out with the first snow and Pa shooting a bear that killed a pig. Then Laura mentions what they do because they can't go outside. She also mentions they chores they have to do. Then she explains how her Ma makes butter and her cooking process. When Pa comes home, he does the outside chores and plays the fiddle or games with the girls and tells them stories. The story in this chapter is about Laura's grandpa and a panther. In the story, Laura's grandpa was coming back from town one day and didn't have his gun. Halfway home he heard a panther scream and it started chasing him. He rode his horse as fast as he could home and ran into the house. The panther hurt the horse he was riding, but grandpa shot the panther. He never leaves without his gun anymore.

Response- WOW. I would have panicked if a panther was chasing me! That grandpa has some serious skill not to freak out!

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1)

The book starts out with Laura talking about how the house looks and things around their home. She then describes her Pa smoking deer meat and all the ways her family stored different types of food for winter, because it was coming soon. Like the garden and slaughtering the pig; also what comes along with the pig. Ma makes provisions like cheese and smoking more meat. Laura them moves on to talk about what they did in the winter since they couldn't go outside. Her Pa would play the fiddle and tell stories that Laura and her sister Mary would enjoy.

Resopnse- This chapter was interesting because I never knew how meat was smoked, even in the 1800s.

Chapter 26

This chapter is back in the present. Holden won't talk about what exactly happened after the last chapter, but he says he got sick and he is now where he is recovering. Holden says he starts a new school in September, but he doesn't want to talk about it that much... He mentions how D. B. comes to visit, and how he regrets telling so many people about what happened because he starts to miss everyone that he talked about in the book.

Response- I enjoyed the book. It was really different from other books I read and J. D. Salinger really got into it. It was great!

Chapter 25

So Holden gets to Grand Central Station and sleeps on a bench for the night. When he wakes up no matter where he goes he's depressed. He thinks that anytime he crosses the street he will disappear. So he talks to Allie, almost praying to him, asking him to watch over him and help him cross the street. If it was successful, he would thank Allie. He goes to Phoebe's school to leave her a message to meet him at lunch time at the Museum so he can give her her money and say goodbye to her because he's going west. He walks around the school and says he went there. He keeps seeing "fuck yous" everywhere and gets depressed seeing that, because then little kids will see them. When he's at the museum, two boys ask him where the mummies are and he shows them. They get scared and run away, but Holden was almost peaceful... until he saw another "fuck you." He was sad that where ever you go, it's tainted. He goes to the bathroom, but ends up passing out. When he gets up and sees Phoebe a little later, she has a suitcase because she wants to go with him. He tells her NO WAY and she gets really pissed at him. Holden tries to make it up and they go to the zoo and the park, but the carousel actually brings them together. Holden tells her he isn't going anywhere [he stops here and verifies that he doesn't] and he's going home. They both are happy, but Holden could almost cry he's so happy!

Response- Will Holden finally get his act together? I was so worried when he kept talking about how dizzy he was or how he felt like he was going to pass out.

Chapter 24

Holden gets to the Antolini's where it looks like they just got done with a huge party. Mr. Antolini is a heavy drinker and Mrs. Antolini isn't really present in the story. Mr. Antolini talks to Holden about what he thinks might happen to Holden if he keeps doing what he is doing. He also talks about the things Holden might be able to do to prevent it, but Holden can't really pay any attention because he's weak and really tired. So Mr. Antolini and Holden make up the couch and Holden falls asleep. He wakes up abruptly to someone stroking his head... and it was Mr. Antolini. [ : O ] Holden sort of freaks, because he thinks Mr. Antolini is hitting on him, and leaves in a hurry.

Response- WOAH!!! So if Mr. Antolini was making some moves on Holden... eck. But he could also just be totally wasted and feeling Holden's pain, so he's trying to comfort him.... I don't know.

Chapter 23

Holden leaves Phoebe for a bit to ring up Mr. Antolini, an english teacher from one of his past schools. Holden tells him the situation, and he invites Holden over to sleep for the night. Holden tells us that he was the only teacher to get closer to James body after he jumped, so he's a good guy. Holden goes back to Phoebe's room and they dance for a few songs and their parents get home from a dinner party. Holden tries to get the room to not smell like cigarettes while hiding. The mom comes in to tuck Phoebe in, and then Holden leaves, but not before Phoebe gives him all of the Christmas money she was saving up and Holden gives her his red hunting hat.

Response- Wow, so their mother reacted smoothly when Phoebe said that the smoke was from her... I would be freaked out on! Holden seemed like the perfect older brother when he danced with Phoebe!

Chapter 22

Holden comes back and gets Phoebe to listen to him. He tells her all about Pencey and the phonies in it and everything he hates. Phoebe sort of snaps and tells Holden that he hates everything. Holden tries to deny it, but he can't think of something he likes when she asks, because he gets side-tracked. He starts to think about the nuns and a boy named James Castle who jumped out of a window at his old school because of being bullied. He was borrowing Holden's sweater at the time. Holden tells Phoebe he likes Allie, but she says it doesn't count because he's dead. Phoebe asks Holden what he really wants to do with his life, and he remembers 'if a body catch a body coming through the rye.' He tells Phoebe that he wants to be on a cliff with a rye field and children playing, and if they get to close to the edge, he'll catch them. Phoebe corrects him that it's 'if a body meet a body coming through the rye.' He seems sort of shocked.

Response- So that's what the title is eh? Very nice... kind of odd, but ok.