'Plagues and Federation: The Diary of Kitty Barnes' Week 6

About:

In 1900, Australia, and other nations nearby have unfortunately been spread with the fatal bubonic plague, The Black Death.  Kitty Barnes, (owner of the diary), writes in this book, her and her family's lives during this time, and how they cope with the plague and the lead up to Federation in Australia.

Summary so far:

Kitty and her family have been to quarantine to get rid of their top layer of skin, because of the chance of them having (rat) fleas, because a neighbour came down with the plague.

Her relationships with her family have gotten stronger.  Everyone cares for and looks after each other, now, because of the plague.  Her romantic relations with Reggie are like a roller-coaster ride, it goes up and down, but now, their relationship has gotten stronger.

Barricades were put up between towns, not to let anyone in or out, so they can clean each town. Some men can't work, now, because they're either stuck in that town, or can't get into their work place.  Now that the barricades are off, people can get around, and it's much cleaner.

Kitty has started to go through puberty.  She thought she'd caught the Bubonic, but she just got her period, and her mum explained it to her.

There have been many themes in this book, as well as hidden story-lines.  Some themes are family, healing, survival, love, (romance), death, and courage.  An example of a hidden story-line in this book is 'women can do anything men can do'. Kitty teaches her mother to read and write, which gets her mother to believe that women aren't just made for cleaning and taking care of kids, but of other things, and Kitty wants to persuade her mother to not make her a house-maid, but try to get a job in an office, like a writer.  Kitty also won a writing desk in her essay competition, which helps her even more, since she can get better at writing, as well as her mother.

Prediction:

 I predict that later in this book, the family will have to deal with Bertie, the oldest brother that is fighting in the war, because he may get injured, or worse.  (Mrs. Standring sort of  hinted it to us).  I think that the women in Kitty's family will gain more respect amongst themselves, and the males.  Kitty might start to right, as well and gain attention.