Welcome to Jem's blog!

Hey there viewers! I don't know where to begin, so I’ll start by introducing myself. My name is Jem Finch. I am 9 years old and live in the United States in the state of Alabama in a small town known as Maycomb county. I have a younger sister named Scout (four years younger) and a father named Atticus. My mother had died when I was six years of age.

In the summer of 1933, a boy named Charles Baker Harris aka Dill moves in next door. He stayed for the summer with his aunt, Miss Rachel Haverford, who owns the house next to us. All summer, we developed and created a friendship, by playing outdoor activities and games. Dill suggested us playing a game involving Boo Radley.

Arthur “Boo” Radley lives in the run-down house. Nobody has seen him outside in years. Let me give you a small description of him: “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” We were all afraid of him, but Dill somehow convince us to play.

A new school year is just around the corner, and Dill leaves Maycomb. I’m going to miss him so much until next summer. Ugh! School is starting too.

Mysterious objects found in a knot-hole

OMG! My stupid sister chewed gum she found in the knothole of a tree. Does she not know it could possibly kill her!? Walking home from the last day of school, she showed me where she found her prize, and revealed the spot. On the last day of school, Scout and I found two “Indian-head” pennies hidden in the same knothole. This is getting interesting, who's leaving this valuable possession.


Summer has finally arrived. A long school year has just ended, and Dill returns to Maycomb. Me, Scout, and Dill begin our games once again. We decided to roll down a hill inside an old tire we found.  We then moved on to play our “Boo Radley” game. As the summer passed, we complicated the game by modifying it.

One day, Dill and I plan to give a note to Boo with a fishing pole, but Atticus caught us and ordered us to “stop tormenting that man.” We didn't even do anything wrong or broke any laws. We obeyed not playing the "Boo Radley" game until the last day of summer. We were going to take this a whole new level! We would sneak over to the Radley Place and peek in. Suddenly, we saw a shadow of a man. We heard a shotgun fired. My heart was beating fast and I was panicking. We fled under the fence by the schoolyard, but my pants got caught on the fence, so I had to pull them off. What an embarrassing moment.

Atticus asked me where my pants had gone, and Dill gave a funny response that he won my pants in a game of strip poker. Phew! At least it worked, right. Late that night, I snuck out to retrieve my pants. A mysterious person neatly folded my pants on the fence.

Another summer has come and gone. One day while coming home from school that day, we found another present hidden in the knothole, a ball of gray twine. We left it there for a few days, but no one took it, so from now on, anything in that knot-hole is ours to claim. We claimed two figures carved in soap, a medal, and an old pocket watch. The knot-hole was later filled with cement, and Mr Radley told me the tree was dying.

Snow in Maycomb!

It's snowing in Maycomb. Weather like this doesn't come very often. Scout and I gathered as much snow as we could from Miss Maudie’s yard. Since there was not enough snow to make a real snowman, we built a small figure out of dirt and covered it in snow. It resembled so much like Mr. Avery, an unpleasant man. Atticus demanded we disguise it for the strong resemblance. I placed Miss Maudie’s sunhat on its head and stuck her hedge clippers as hands.

That night, I was waken up by Atticus to go outside. Miss Maudie’s house was on fire! You wouldn't believe how much destruction the fire caused. The neighbours helped her save her furniture, and the fire truck arrives in time to stop the fire from spreading to other houses, but Miss Maudie’s house burns to the ground. In chaos, someone mysteriously draped a blanket over Scout. It must have been Boo Radley!

During Christmas break, Atticus’s brother, Jack, came to stay a week during the holidays. On Christmas Day, Atticus took us and Jack to Finch’s Landing where Atticus’s sister, Alexandra, and her husband live. I'm so happy! I unwrapped my gift and I got an air rifle. We returned back to Maycomb, after Scout fought with Francis and the issue was unable to be resolved.

One day, Scout and I saw a mad dog appear, wandering down the main street towards our house. We rushed to Calpurnia who called Atticus, who returns home with Heck Tate (the sheriff of Maycomb). Heck gives Atticus his rifle to shoot the animal. I was amazed! Atticus killed the dog with one shot. Later, Miss Maudie told us that Atticus was the best shooter in the county and was known as “One-shot Finch.” Scout won't learn to shut up, she was about to brag about our father's talent, however if Atticus wanted us to know, he would have told us himself.


Mrs. Dubose, some old lady always shouts at me whenever I pass by. Atticus warned me to be polite and a gentleman to her, because she is old and sick. One day, she insulted Atticus that something had to be done. She said that Atticus is not any better than the “niggers and trash he works for.” I lost my temper took a bat destroyed all of Mrs. Dubose’s camellia bushes. Sorry I don't normally lose my temper like this, but it was well deserved. As always, my poor actions led to a punishment: I had to go to her house every day for a month and read to her. Mrs. Dubose dies after my punishment ends. R.I.P Mrs. Dubose.