Common Themes

The stories "The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant" and "Catch the Moon" both shared common themes. In "The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant", the 14 year old narrator takes 17 year old Sheila Mant on a canoe to go to a concert. While doing this, she tells him about herself, and tells him that she thinks fishing is dumb. The narrator is a diehard bass fisher, but does not tell Sheila this. However, he forgets to reel in his line and bait from the boat and the biggest bass in the river decides to get hooked. Stuck between his dream girl and the biggest fish he has ever caught, he ends up letting the fish go. After the concert, Sheila ends up going home with another boy and the narrator loses not only the fish, but his girl. In "Catch the Moon", a young Hispanic boy named Luis works with his father on a junk yard under court order. He is a leader of a small gang who creates trouble in his neighborhood. One day at work, Luis sees a very beautiful girl who is looking for a new tire cap for her car. At the end of the story, Luis goes to the junk yard at night to find the tire cap, and returns it to the girl.

Both themes can be described as a changing in character by letting go of something. In "The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant", the narrator has to let the fish go because he can not reel it into the book with Sheila there. He gives up something he loves doing for someone he loves. In "Catch the Moon", Luis gives up his rebellious nature to find a purpose in helping others, such as his father at home and finding the tire cap for the girl. In both stories, the protagonists ends up changing their old ways to start a new beginning, even though Luis gets what he wants and the narrator from "The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant" does not end up with the girl.