Event 1: Richard missed his shot at the buck
Richard felt uncomfortable shooting the innocent buck. He
purposely misfires and it manages to escape.
His older brother, Gus, and his father, Pa, are both disappointed in
him.
Richard confesses that he doesn’t enjoy hunting. He feels
compassionate towards the animals, and does not enjoy hunting
for sport.
Pa responds by saying that Richard does not need to go hunting
with them anymore.
Event 2: Richard writes his first letter to Mr. Kilmer
After Mrs. Hansen (his English teacher) reads Mr. Kilmer’s poem
“Trees” to the class, Richard takes him as his new hero.
Mr. Kilmer enjoys writing poetry and is also a soldier serving in the
war at the time.
In his letter, Richard confesses that he writes poetry too – but
keeps it a secret from everyone else.
He asked for Mr. Kilmer’s advice – if he should share his poetry
with everyone.
This letter started a bond of friendship between Richard and Mr.
Kilmer, who after this – exchanged letters often.
Mr. Kilmer helped Richard improve his poems by giving feedback.
Event 3: Richard is the only person to sign the card for the
Schermers
Mrs. Hansen brings a sympathy card for the Schermers, to be
signed by the class.
Abner and Harry prevented any of the other boys from signing the
card with their threatening looks.
The girls in the class didn’t sign, because they were afraid Peggy
and Blanche wouldn’t talk to them anymore.
In the end, Richard is the only student who signs the card. This
causes Mrs. Hansen to feel ashamed and upset with the rest of
her class.
Richard takes the card from Mrs. Hansen after school, so that he
can personally give it to the Schermer family.
Abner and Harry threaten Richard on the way home, but Richard
defends himself and scares the bullies off.
Hannah is reluctant to accept the card, but Richard encourages
her to pass the card to her parents, at least.
Event 4: Richard confesses to everyone that he writes poetry
Mr. Kilmer encourages Richard to tell his family that he writes
poetry.
After Richard tells his family, Gus doesn’t believe that Mr. Kilmer is
a famous poet. Pa doesn’t believe his son writes poetry.
Richard was sad at his family’s disinterest in his poems. Gus goes
further to advise Richard, to keep his poetry a secret from his
school friends.
Richard shares his poetry with Mrs. Hansen. She is very
impressed and helps him pick a poem to send to Mr. Kilmer.
In class, Richard reads his poem out loud. Some of his classmates
are moved by his poem.
Hannah suggests a new ending for his poem, which Richard
decides to use.
Event 5: Hannah declines the role of Lady Liberty
Many students and parents were unhappy after the role of Lady
Liberty was given to Hannah – since they think of her as an
unpatriotic German.
Hannah makes a decision to decline the role herself. Richard
supports her and declines the role of Doughboy too.
Pa and Gus are disappointed that Richard sided with Hannah.
Pa advises him to avoid the Schermers, as the town folk have
started spreading rumours that Richard is a supporter of the
“Huns”.
As a result of Richard’s action, he became even closer to Hannah.
He was even invited to dinner with her family, who liked him very
much.
Event 6: Hannah gets injured at the picnic
Hannah and Richard eat quietly by themselves during the end-of-
term picnic.
Richard decides to carve “H and R” in the tree.
Hannah’s ankle gets hit by a rock, thrown by an unknown stranger.
Richard’s heart sinks when he sees it, and feels sorry that this
happened to her.
Event 7: Gus enlists in the army
Gus comes home to tell Pa and Richard that he has enlisted in the
army.
Pa reacts angrily and scolds Gus severely for his decision.
Event 8: Mr. Kilmer is killed in the war
After hearing the news from Hannah Schermer that Mr. Kilmer was
killed in the war, Richard writes a poem as a tribute to him.
He likens Mr. Kilmer to a “world”.
Pa reads the poem in the newspaper, and was amazed with
Richard’s word choice.
Richard continues writing poems, and gets help from Pa.
This strengthens their father-and-son bond very much. Pa ends up
supporting Richard’s passion in poetry.
