2. Montana 1948

      I am reading Montana 1948 by Larry Watson. I am currently about half way through the book. Last time I blogged, I had basically only talked about the introduction of characters. A lot has happened since then. Basically, while Marie is sick, she has Uncle Frank check up on her, but when Uncle Frank goes in the room alone with Marie, she freaks out. Marie is screaming and is calling for David's mom (Gail). After Uncle Frank leaves, Marie tells Gail that a lot of her Indian friends have been taken advantage of by Doctor Frank. This of course shocks Gail because her brother-in-law is raping innocent women. There is a lot of dramatic irony because when Gail tells her husband, they don't know that David is listening. David knows everything that is going on, but no one else knows. Later, their family goes to David's grandfather's house and David's father confronts Frank about it. He gets upset and does admit to doing it. David's father says, despite being a police officer, that he will not release his secret. Gail disagrees with this. She believes that he should be busted. About a week later, after an afternoon of fishing, they come home and find Marie dead. This, of course, hurts David because he loved her. He also knows a serious secret that he isn't supposed to know which makes him feel guilty. 
       I think this book is good, but it is also kind of weird. The moral of the story isn't very clear yet, so it's hard for me to tell if I will like it.      
       To be honest, I have no idea why the author wrote this book. I have no idea what the moral of the story is yet. I believe that once I know the moral, I will be able to see the author's purpose in writing the book.
       If I had to take a guess at what the theme is, I would guess courage. It might have something to do with him having to admit the secret he knows. This will be extremely difficult for David because of his shyness.
      The best character so far is David. He knows a lot of secrets, but is kind of a shy a guy. It will be interesting to see how he grows because he will eventually have to let go of the secret he knows. I have seen a small change in him when he is making plans to tell his father what he knows. Before, he had no intentions of letting his mother or father know that he knows about his Uncle Frank's wrongdoings.
      "This was my chance. I could ride along with my father and, when we were alone, tell him what I knew." This demonstrates that David wants to tell his father that he knows everything, even though it will be really hard for him. It is important because it shows a little bit of the change he is starting to go through.      
      The only question I have about my book is what is the theme? I will have to keep reading to find out.