Review: Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

Billy has got hounds on the brain. Not just any ol' dog will do. He wants coon-hounds. Fine, beautiful, coon-hounds. And one won't do him. No sir. He's just got to have two. Two years of hard work later, and Billy has enough money to buy Old Dan and Little Ann. The three bond instantly and have many fine adventures in this classic set in the wonderful Ozarks.


I've got to give this book all 5 stars.

1: This is the kind of book (like My Side of the Mountain) that makes little boys (and a few little girls I'm sure) run away to live in the mountains and have larks of all kinds, not realizing that the thing they suddenly have a craving for isn't a place, it's a time. A time long ago that is almost assuredly lost to us forever, except where it lives on in the pages of wonderful classics like this.

2: You can tell You can feel the strength of Billy's love for his dogs. It's a love that reaches out and takes you captive too, partly due to the first person narration (Which only works in really good books!) Another way you can see who is important to Billy is the frequency of their mentions. Grandpa was his hero, his Papa and Mama were very much loved, and his sisters... well he loved them very much too, but they never even got names! I honestly didn't know his Grandma was even alive until 75% into the book. Yes, Dan and Ann are the center of Billy's universe.

3: Can we say classic coming of age story? Typical, and non-typical at the same time. I do believe its difficulty to classify is one of the things that makes this a classic. It's good for all ages. Can we also compare this book to The Yearling and Ol' Yeller?

4: Okay, so since I can see that I've been rambling without maybe reviewing, I should say something that sounds good..... The characters were believable and realistic (I had a hard time thinking of this book as fiction), the setting was perfect.... I used a Sharpie a little bit (since I was fixing it for our Junior Highers) but it wasn't really a lot, and half of them had two meanings (I just didn't trust the JH'ers to pick the right one!) There was a great amount of God answering Billy's prayers in so many miraculous ways.

5: Apparently I haven't seen the movie (I had thought I had but if I did it was ages ago) so I was pretty shocked near the end there. And at the same time not. It definitely had one of those nostalgic endings (Like I was saying in point 1)

To put it simply.... I picked it up and had to struggle with myself anytime life actually forced me to put it down. I'm so glad I read it. (People have been recommending it for years. I guess I just needed a copy shoved in my hands. Thanks Mrs. G!)