This book kind of floored me. I thought I only liked fiction books with romance in them. (or that's what I told my students about why I didn't care for Harry Potter apart from the laborious plodding nature of the series. Don't start in on Hermione and Ron and Harry and Jenny - zero romance in those liaisons - ok mini rant done.) I know I have high standards for what I consider to be romantic. It all stems from having been influenced by the Brontes...
This book must have graced the shelves of my childhood home. Why I never read it is beyond me. I do have a fear of books about animals. They always seem to die. I'm still traumatized from Bambi (first movie I ever watched that I recall), Old Yeller, and Where the Red Fern Grows.
Anyway, my mom passed it on to me saying that she thought I might like it. I do. I love it. I know - did I include that disclaimer about overusing the word love and exclamation points!
I'm not going to go in depth. I cut my finger open a week or so ago and it hurts to type. Let's just outrage the laws of grammar and list some things: artful nature imagery with just the right amount of detail, characters that continue to surprise and charm - [Grandma Hutto (she's my new mentor), Penny (small but clever and innovative - he's the dad), girthy ma who's sensible and kind of obnoxious, the neighbor family Forresters - raw and rowdy but endearing, Flag the deer - best and worst pet ever] story takes place somewhere in the backwoods of Florida (where the author had moved to and must've done some amazing research because the stuff in here from the dialect to the customs seems legit.)
You get the idea. Well worth the read. No comment about the possibility of animals dying in the end. But the actual theme is more about the dad and his son and his coming of age with the help of his pet and the amazing mentorship of his dad. Talk about knowing how to do stuff...
