– Title : The Year of Sharing

– Author : Harry Gilbert

– Type of book : Fantasy and Horror

The types of this story, The Year of Sharing are fantasy and horror. I said if types of
story are fantasy and horror because this story tells about the human being, Richard
become part of deer family in the forest. Not be deer keeper, but Richard be a baby from
“the mother” and live temporary since Richard escape from his house in the village.
Richard also can talk each other with the deer family and absolutely not in English
language but they talk in body language or maybe with heart. Then this story tells about
the enemy of deer, wolves. Wolves chase the deer family and of course, Richard also
chased by wolves. Many words “scream” and “ran away” in this story and make the
reader feel afraid, worried and sad.
Harry Gilbert, the author make the story so natural and beautifully because he written in
the plain words, not so difficult to all of group. He getting the ideas for stories is hard
work. The idea for The Year of Sharing came to him while he was watching students
during their examinations. He fell in love with science fiction and spent to read every
science-fiction story he could find, and also writing his own stories.
I like this book, The Year of Sharing. From the first paragraph I feel interest to follow the
story until the end. Not skipping and skimming, but I read all of word.
2. Body:
There is tradition in this village when the child is twelve years old to make a party. This
year, there are four of children doing their Year of Sharing. One of them is Richard, the
only person who has no friend and family (in his mind). He didn`t ask any friends to
come the party, his mother too busy and he specially asked his father not to come, father
would cry. Richard didn`t want people to see him crying. He not follows the party, he
going outside alone. He feels the world is very boring because he lives quietly in his
village. There are walls round his villages and he can not to go out. Actually, he wants to
go out from this boring village. He won`t be a child any more.

Then Richard woke up (he`s sleep after the end of party), he is very confused. He looks a
different view around him. Actually, he not in the village again, he escape from it and go
to forest in a little dark. So he is going to sit up and look at his animal family now, deer
family. He didn`t want deer. He wanted a strong animal which can fight, not an animal
which runs away like a deer. But the deer families feel Richard is part of deer family.
When Richard takes a walk to find some food, the father ran and pushed his back next to
mother. Now, Richard is a baby of deer families. In the deer family there are father,
mother, brother, baby and his.

Richard couldn`t eat anything, he is very hungry. Of course, food in the forest is different
with food in the village. He didn`t think that life with animals would be like this. He
thought his new life with animals be fast, dangerous and exciting. It isn`t. they just walk
through the trees. The deer don`t talk, they don`t make any sounds. When mother asked
where are him, so Richard said “I`m here”. The mother always gives the same question
every day. Just the boring activity, but he feel this life is interesting.

It`s night. Suddenly when Richard and brother trying to see who can jump higher, father
run up and knocked him with his antlers. Father wants his to be quiet. It`s very quiet. Not
a sound anywhere. Richard doesn`t understand with this condition, but he already know,
when he saw the wolf coming through the trees. The deer family is moving away, going
deeper into the forest. But the brother and Richard don`t want to run away. Brother and
he fight to struggle their self. Unfortunately, two more wolves are coming, and they`re
coming fast. In this situation he just an animal even though he is a person. If another
animal is stronger than his, it can kill his. Richard didn`t understand that before. So they
are run away. First the wolves were following brother, but directly Richard screamed,
because he wanted the wolves would follow him. At last, the wolves stopped and ran
straight at him. And he was afraid, he dropped the stick and run like a deer. There was a
big tree in front of his and second he was at the top of it. He can`t find the deer in the
dark, and then he would try to sleep.

It`s morning and he didn`t sleep all night. He is going to climb down the tree and look for
some food. Things have change again. He is back with the deer. In the last few days they
have walked and walked. When the other wants to stop and eat, father keeps their
moving. They have swum across rivers, pushed through trees, run across open ground
and moved back into trees again. They did that because they want lost their smells in
water so the wolves can not to following them. In the journey to far away from wolves,
brother, Richard and baby often jump together, moving sudden high jump across the
ground. Richard is beginning to understand why deer jump so much. A jump catches the
eye of wolf. When a wolf runs after a deer, another deer will jump and the wolf will turn
to look it, then a third deer will jump. The wolf turns again. Each jump takes the deer
away from the wolf and the wolf can`t decide which deer to follow. It`s clever.
Yesterday something bad happened. Baby did a good, high jump but when she came
down, she gave a little scream. A stick from a tree was deep inside Baby`s leg and
Mother`s teeth couldn`t pull it out. Mother did not let Richard to touch it. Baby could
only walk on three legs and she got tired very quickly. Father tried to move on again,
away from the wolf. Father pushed us all away but Baby still in here, father took baby to
a dark place where she could hide under leaves. It was near a river and the ground was
wet. That would hide Baby`s smell from the wolf. Actually, Richard couldn`t leave her,
he stopped and ran back to Baby. He stayed still and they went into the trees and he
couldn`t see them anymore. So he lay down heavily on top of her. He held the stick in
her leg and moved it slowly and carefully. He pulled and turned it until it came out, all of
it. Then he went and carried water in his hand from the river to wash the place on her leg.
That was all he could do. Because of it, they have to stay here for a few days. Only
Richard and Baby.
The wolves found them two days later. They were thin and hungry wolves. In this
situation, Richard was not afraid. He was brave and would kill them one by one. The
wolves knew he was dangerous, but they were hungry. They come slowly without any
sound. He shot a stone from the catapult and it hit one the eye. He followed that with
more stones until the wolf didn`t move again. The other wolf jumped, turned and ran
back into the trees.

From the trees came a long, lonely howl. He wanted until it was dark and the Baby and
he began walking. But at the night, there was a howl. Then another howl from different
side, there were lots of them. Too many. He learnt something new. Wolves has families
too, big families. If you kill one wolf, the family wants to find the killer. Richard and
Baby were in trouble.

When he heard all those wolves howling in the dark, he said Baby to stand quietly. Baby
stopped and didn`t move. He tried smelling for a water, he could something wet. When
he turned around, he knew where the wet smell was coming from. He and Baby run away
to that place, although the Baby`s leg was hurting. Then he saw the big lake. They swam
to lose their smell. After that they have to begin moving soon. They must be far away
from here by morning.

At last, they met with father, mother and brother after three days ago in the hills. The
deer family becomes one again. But they couldn`t celebrate their happiness, the wolves
followed them. The wolves knew it because the cut on Baby`s leg was open again, the
strong smell blood. Richard directly cleaned Baby`s cut then he cut himself. He wants all
of wolves to follow him. He began running down the hill and the deer family run away to
hill, without Richard. He ran and didn`t look back. He didn`t rest, he ran to save himself.
When he comes to the rock, he didn`t stop, he climbed up faster than a wild cat. Until the
top of rock, he looks the wolves in everywhere. He perhaps will stay here until morning.
And I don’t know the real continue of this story. Richard`s father said that he don`t know
what happened with Richard. When Richard`s Year of Sharing finished, he went to bring
him home but he only found the recorder at the bottom of the hill. Richard`s mother also
said that Richard was difficult boy, he wanted to bring back the old world, the world
where people took everything and animal had nothing. But in the end he learnt to share.
He learnt that people are animals too and the world belongs not just to people, but to all
animals.

– Setting (time and place)

In the village (…I`m always been best at everything in the village school) and the forest
(… because there are trees all around me)

– Characters (antagonist and protagonist) à

Antagonist: The wolves
Protagonist: Richard and his deer family (father, mother, brother and baby)
– Story Plot/chronology
Alur Maju (It`s evening now…..) then (It`s morning and I`m still up in the tree)
– Moral values and the examples from the story

In this story, we will learn about the offering of Richard to save their family. Although
the deer family is not his real family, but he is willing to offering himself. He ran away to
go to someplace where the wolves couldn`t smell the deer family again. And of course,
the deer family runs away to contrary place from him. He struggle them self from the
wolves. (first I cleaned Baby`s cut again and put leaves on it to stop the blood. Then I cut
my self-a small cut on the leg, with a sharp stone.)
3. Conclusion:
I really like this book. This story gives us more moral values. I learn in this book that we
must protect our family. When our family gets the trouble, we have to solve this problem
and save them. We have to give love and affection each other.
I recommended this book to all of group. The children can read this book, because the
plain word to them, and there are moral values on the story. The parents also can read
this book; they will retell this story to their children.
 Richard is bored with the quiet life of his village.
He would like to have a motor-car and drive it… very fast. But Richard
lives in a future world where there are no cars, only bicycles and small
villages and green forests.
And now he is twelve years old, and like the other children, he must do
his Year of Sharing. He must live alone in the forest with the wild
animals. He must learn to share his world; he must learn how animals
live and eat and fight… and die.