Hi Blog, I am back. This book ended so crazy!!! Kya was still having her trial for Chase Andrews death and all the information was theorectical and never a fact. So she was found not guilty by the Jury which is crazy because of how prejudice all the people are. Heres is what Prejudice means: Prejudice definition

Themes I found: Prejudice because everyone had something against Kya because she was not a normal person and was the ‘marsh girl’. Another theme was also abandoment. Everyone abandoned her for the longest time. She had a couple town friends who cared for her and Tate, but even then Tate left her for years with no contact. It made her lose trust for everyone and whenever people got close with her she would be so connected to them because she never had someone there for her.

I am very glad with how the book ended. So many plot twists and things I did not expect. Like I 100% thought Kya was going to be found guilty and get the death penatly, but the jury came to their senses and realized they cannot judge her and they need to look at the facts.

Writers craft: Delia Owens has poems throughout the book that a girl by the name of Amanda Hamilton wrote which is foreshadowing of what ends up happening at the end. Because guess what? Kya is Amanda! And she writes in her peom about how she watched Chase fall off the tower after she pushed him. But no one finds it until after she died. Tate was looking through her stuff and found it but is not telling anyone about it.

It is crazy, I know. When I read that I was SHOCKED. Like I seriously thought Kya was innocent this WHOLE time. But no, she was not. I am actually so glad the author chose to make the readers not even know what was the truth because it added so much more to the book.

That is all blog, I hope you enjoyed the time I spent writing! Bye!

Hi blog, I am back. This section was not much excitement and more of just answering many of my ideas. Since the beginning I have inferenced that Kya had something to do with Chases death even though I did not think she was capable of it I had a feeling. And I was right. Kya is most likely going to be charged guilty with the murder of Chase Andrews. Everything is adding up against her! 

I was given more information on how Chase and Kya interacted after she found out he is cheating on her... and well... Chase assaulted her and tried to force her into doing sexual things... if you know what I mean. 

Someone saw it and it was no help to Kya in court. They just saw Kya's pants down and her kicking him to defend herself. But because she is the weirdo Marsh Girl the way the townsman phrased it was very much biased of Chase. Which is incredibly frustrating because Kya being an outsider is one of the main reasons she will be found guilty. Even if she is innocent no one will believe her.

Now Kya is going to be faced with the death penalty, IF FOUND GUILTY. If you do not know what the death penalty here is a link to it. https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/death-penalty/

But yea, it sucks so much for Kya. I feel terrible for her. Literally when her trial started the whole town was in the courtroom. Theres a designated black area because this is set in a time of segregation and there was white people in it because that many people wanted to hear the case.

I just cannot imagine being in her shoes. Being falsely accused of something sucks. So I do hope that somehow she does not get charged guilty and get the death penalty. I will find out in the next section of reading so until then, bye Blog!

Hi Blog, A LOT has happened in the 50 pages I read. It started with Kya seeing Chase cheating on her and he tried to talk to her but she gave him no time to explain and left him for good. She starts to use something that comforts her to help her overcome the pain she felt. A poem by Amanda Hamilton that says hits home.

Somehow she knows every word by heart which makes me wonder if maybe this Amanda girl is someone Kya knows or maybe even herself? Because how would Kya know these poems she recites all the time so well? This is a reach for sure, but if anything, I would not be surprised if this Amanda person ended up being someone who was hinted at towards the beginning of the book..

Kya wrote a book called The Sea Shells of the Eastern Seaboard which was published and it had many copies sold. People started to know Kya as more than ‘the marsh girl’. Tate was the one who inspired her so she wrote to him a thank you letter and also told him if he ever wants to stop by she can give him her book. She wants to get to be friends again because she realized Tate was right. Chase was cheating and he helped her realize that was happening.

Someone came to Kya’s door and told her she owns the land on the marsh she has lived at her whole life, but there are a bunch of unpaid taxes. They could be up to 800,000 dollars! Which is crazy! And Kya does not work so I do not know how she is going to pay for it. I feel so bad for her because she lives a different lifestyle than the rest of the world. She just wants to live peacefully with no one telling her to go to school, go to college, get a job, and make money. She has never had that and never will. But not she is getting bombarded with news that she owes a bunch of money for the land she owns.

Then, Tate came to see Kya. They talked and he read her book. She told him that it has always been him and she hopes they can still be friends. Which is crazy to me because Kya was so hurt by him leaving. Even if she knows that he did not mean to hurt her and he is a nice person, she cannot just let it go. Which then Jodie comes back! For those who have not read my blog yet and are just starting Jodie is Kya’s older brother who left her when the rest of her family left at the beginning of the book. Jodie told Kya Ma is dead. She had luekemia and Pa also threatened Ma that he would hurt the kids if she tried to take them. Kya felt a little better knowing that Ma did care, but is now hurt because Ma is dead. I wish Kya could have gotten to say goodbye. Pa makes me so angry. He was actually nice to Kya when it was just them for that time before she left. But no, the truth was that Pa was the reason Ma never came back.

When all of this was happening, the Sheriff and his assistant were doing a deep dive on Kya. They found out that Kya went to Greenville the night of Chase’s death, many sources told them that. Which made me think that Kya could not have been involved. Then, they brought up how she could have traveled back and killed him them gone back to Greenville. And the bus times added up. So Kya being the murderer was back on the table

More information added up including a fabric on Chases body that was the same as a wool hat Kya had. They got a warrant and arrested Kya. She ended up getting put in jail and it ended off with Kya going to court for the Murder. That is all for now, Blog. Bye!

Hi Blog, a lot has happened since the last time I wrote. Chase is now more involved with Kya and her life. She made him a necklace and they started dating. The author writes, “He hadn’t planned on feeling anything for this strange and feral barefoot girl, but watching her swirl across the sand, birds at her fingertips, he was intrigued by her self-reliance as well as her beauty” (pg169).

Chase is falling in love with Kya and I honestly do not know what I think about it. Because yes, they are cute together, but I know what happens to Chase. He ends up dying. All the information the book has given is leading up to his death and the idea that Kya has something to do with it. I do not think Kya is capable of murdering someone so if that is the outcome something horrid must’ve happened between Chase and Kya. She would not just murder to murder.

Back to the 1969, someone reported to the Police that Chase was wearing a shell necklace and they think it was from ‘the marsh girl’ also known as Kya. Our Kya. Then they said it was not on the body when they found Chase dead. So now the Police are looking for Kya to talk to her. And if things escalate, get a warrant for her.

Going back in time, Kya tries to meet Chase’s parents. They shun her and Kya never tries again. I felt very bad for Kya because she just wants to meet the family of the person she likes. Because of her lifestyle Chase’s parents could not care less to try to get to know her.

Tate comes back and Kya is NOT happy at all. But he said one thing: Chase is not the person you think he is. He goes on about how Chase has other women and Kya cannot let that leave her mind. I get trying to warn her if this is true, but you cannot just expect her to want to see you when shes moved on with her life and you left her. Even if that was not Tate’s purpose, how does he expect Kya to view it as?

The section then ends with a man named Hal Miller telling the police that he saw Kya traveling on a boat to the tower (where Chase died at) around the time of his death… That is all for now. Bye, Blog!

Hi blog, this section of reading was VERY interesting. It started off with Kya and Tate reading together which I thought was very sweet. Tate took time out of his life to help Kya. She continues to create bonds with Mabel and other workers at the Piggly Wiggly. Everything is looking great for Kya.

As time goes on Kya and Tate start to develop their friendship into a relationship if you get what I mean. They started kissing and holding hands a lot which I thought was very cute. Then, Tate starts to touch her in her upper half private parts and then starts to undress her.

Me when I read this part of the book:

I was like… uh… this girl is 15 and you are 19… but then Tate said they could not proceed cause he does not want to get her pregnant. Thats when I got mad. Not only did I have to read that but Kya was led on and then he just left her like that. Speaking of leaving, he left her for college as he should because you should not pause your plans for a person. But what makes me upset is the way he just was like “yea, I am actually leaving right now, bye-bye” (he did not say those words exactly). Like yea, leave the girl abruptly that literally has attachment issues…

Anyways, there was a time jump. Now Kya is 19 and has forgotten about Tate for the most part. But then, Chase Andrews and her meet! Finally the characters get to meet one another. Although I am worried because the Police are investigating his case in the future part of the book and they said Chase went to the marsh a lot to see something or someone for years… I think Kya is actually part of the murder… anyways, they have slight conversations but then Kya starts to talk about how she is “aroused” by him… WHY DO I NEED TO KNOW THAT… I wanted to cry when I read that. I thought this book was about nature so I was not prepared at all to read this section.

But yea. Thats all blog. Bye!

Hello blog. As I read the next 50 pages of my book a lot shocked me. Pa actually showed interest in her! It is crazy, I know. When I read the pages that showed it I was shocked. He even took her fishing! People were starting to be nicer to Kya around the town too! This is significant because it gave Kya hope in society that not all people will judge her and be mean. Some will be nice to people no matter what. But then the text showed how people are still going to be rude no matter what. A young girl said hi to Kya even when Kya was filthy and had handfuls of food in her hands. But then the young girls mom pulled her away and told her daughter to stay away from Kya because she is gross. It very much sucks that people can be rude.

It does not help that the town they live in, Barkley Cove is very conservative and they have 7 churches. Their town is tiny! What town that small needs that many churches?? Going to Church and having religious beliefs is obviously normal and a good thing, but how come they need so many Churches? Other than the different races existing with segregation, the same race should just go to Church together. And yes, their are different types of Churches that people prefer but the town all believes the same type! Anyways, on to the next thing. The way the author writes the characters in the town is very stereotypical, but it helps the book develop. Yes, the goody-good conservative people are the ones mean because Kya is not living a normal, traditional life, but it helps Kya become who Kya is. Which is why I like it.

This book is getting incredibly good and I have so many theories of how Chase and Kya are connected so I am going to say one. I think that somehow Chase is going to meet Kya when he comes to the Marsh and they start to get to know each other. And rather Chase and Kya catches feelings or they become really good friends. Then, somehow their relationship declines because of something that happens. Then Chase is murdered. I do not know how he was murdered or have a guess, but the way the point of views are I feel like Kya will be involved with it somehow, rather framed or maybe even murdered him…

Another character thats important is Tate. Kya and Tate met as kids and now they put different types of feathers on a stump to communicate. Tate also told Kya he could teach her how to read which will be great for Kya. Im so glad she has characters who are nice to her and help her. Overall, so far I really like this book. It has a lot of information but it is easy to keep up with and Kya is a great character. Bye, blog!

The main character, Kya, is a seven-year-old girl whose family, which is huge, all abandoned her. She was the closest with her Ma and her brother, Jodie. Since they have left she has reminisced about all they did for her. One person who she does not get along with is her Pa. He is abusive and rude to everyone, including her Ma, which was the reason Ma left. Everything Kya has gone through has led her to have abandonment issues. She also now has to fend for herself.

Another character who has been mentioned is Chase Andrews. He was the star quarterback, a town hotshot, now works for his parents and is married. In 1969, two boys named Benji and Steve were biking and saw a head peaking out of the mud. Steve says, “‘See, there. Blue clothes, like somebody’s lyin’ in the mud.’ Benji called out, ‘Hey you! Watchadoin’?’… ‘I see a face, but it ain’t movin’'” (Owens 22). They end up reporting it to the Police and they investigate it. What throws them off is they see no footprints where Chase Andrews fell to his death, so the Police begin to think it was a murder. What is the importance of this? Kya’s point of view is set in 1952, and Chase’s is set in 1969. Why the time jump? Does Kya end up being friends with Chase once she gets older and has a connection to him enough to know what happened to Chase or is somehow involved with it? The author Delia Owens mentions this for a reason, but I have to keep reading to figure out the importance.

Back to Kya, someone shows up at their property asking for Catherine Clark, who is Kya’s older sister. They are coming to take her to school. The lady mixes Kya up with Catherine and one day Kya tries school she is bullied because she cannot spell dog. That was Kya’s first and last day of school. It is not her fault that her parents never taught her how to spell and do basic life skills. So Kya put it upon herself to teach herself basic skills. It started with cooking. Then she did laundry. Then she drove a boat. She has to do things adults do at the age of seven.

So far I am liking this book, although it is already very emotional. From the beginning, Kya has been going through issues with her family and now she has so much pressure on her. To survive she needs to learn how to do so many things that a seven-year-old should not know. Seven-year-olds should be having fun and hanging out with friends and having time to have an imagination with themselves and their surroundings. Instead, she is cooking, cleaning, washing, drying, driving, and more.

I have chosen to read Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I have seen and heard information on it because one of my favorite actors plays Kya Clark and I have had an interest in it, but I have never read or watched the movie. When trying to find a book for this term, this book was suggested by Mrs. Christopherson and I immediately said yes. It looks very good and inspiring just from reading the backside and I am very excited to read it. I usually aim for young adult realistic fiction with thriller or romance so this is kind of up my alley, but also not at the same time. I am reading it with Norah, and I think it will go well. We will be successful at reading it because we both are successful when it comes to reading what we need to read in the time before the meetings.

In every passage, the authors show how the Europeans treated the Natives in cruel ways making the audience feel empathy for them. In the text, “The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies”, De Las Casas spreads awareness by writing “The continual cold penetrates them, constricts the chest, and they die spitting blood, or weakened by diarrhea” (De Las Casas 92). De Las Casas writes to show that the Natives were treated unfairly, like animals. The audience was once meant for the Europeans to show what their people were doing, but the audience has grown around the world. The passage has made people all around the world realize how poorly the Natives were treated and spread awareness all around.

In the passage, “The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies” Bartolome De Las Casas shows the cultural encounters and frontiers through the Europeans and the Indians. Since the beginning, the Indians have always wanted a relationship with the Europeans, whom they thought were sent from heaven. They were constantly nice to them and wanted to be civil. The Europeans realized over time that the Indians did not have much in any aspect of life. They made it their goal to make the Indians their slaves. On page 90, De Las Casas states, “And the Christians, with their horses and swords and pikes began to carry out massacres and strange cruelties against them….” When the Indians tried to fight back many died or surrendered. Those who survived became slaves of the Europeans. The Europeans had way more control over the situation than the Indians did leaving to devastation. Bartolome De Las Casas writes about this time of history to show that it does not always end well when two different groups of people meet. The Europeans had bad intentions from the beginning and were constantly doing things to their advantage because they knew the Indians trusted them. Their trust ended up being the death of them.