Newberry Medal, A tear jerker! ( )

Newbery Medal 1970. AR 5.3, 3 points. This book was made into a telivision movie.

This is a story of a boy and a dog. The boys father often goes hunting with the dog. One day the father is arrested and sent to jail. The dog fights the police and is wounded. The father eventually returns. The dog and the father eventually die, but their memory lives on through the boy. ( )

(Summary) The book is back in the 19th century. It's about an young african american boy and his family who is living in proverty in the south. Sounder is the family dog who goes out everyday with the dad to hunt for food. Oneday the dad came home with ham and the family actually had a decent meal for once, but a few days later their is a knock at the door it's the sheriff claiming that the dad stole the ham and they took him to jail. In the process sounder was shot and the boy became very upset but he didn't believe sounder was dead so he continued to look for for sounder. He grapples resentful feeling towards his father and the fateof his family as they struggle to survive.

Summary:
This is about a boy who has a dog named Sounder. The boy feels very much alone because he has no neighbors and it is too far to walk to school. He is also lonely becuse he can not read to pass away the time. So Sounder is the boys best friend. The family is poor so the father goes out to steal to feed his family. When his father is taken to jail Sounder gets hurt trying to protect him.

Personal Reaction:
I don't know if I liked this book or not.I thought it was a hard story to read and it was very sad. The best part of the story for me was the way the author described Sounders distinct bark that "filled up the night and made music as though the branches of all the trees were being pulled across silver strings.

Extensions:
1. Discussions on feelings
2. Discussion on a man and his best friend
3. Whose dog has the most distinctive bark and why