Cynthia DeFelice

In a weird tale where running away from home fixes all your conflicts because your grandparents are nice like that, this book's not bad. It's obviously a manipulation of grief on Erik's part some, and kind of questionable as he technically grave robs, along with stealing someone's dog, but it's not the most putrid thing I've read.

The conflicts however are resolved in mere hours of his life.

Conflict: Erik is sent off by his parents before he can hunt.
Resolve: He ends up in nowhere North Dakota, finds a dog, and by the next day he's gone off to hunt illegally.

Conflict: Erik doesn't like where he's sent, his grandparents are cold and grieving and their daughter, his mother, obviously left and didn't look back.
Resolve: He takes the new dog he's found and leaves.

Conflict: Erik's bad at shooting.
Resolve: He remembers the lessons and shoots good.

Conflict: He's hungry.
Resolve: He finds mouse-chewed candy bars, chips, and soda that likely have been left out for a year in an abandoned house.

These are just a hand full of examples, there's at least four more I can think of off the bat, one of which is this one. His grandfather is cold and closed up and callous, even abrasive towards him. Erik runs away. When he comes back, his grandfather has been "fixed". That's not me saying it, his grandmother straight up calls it that. Him running away "fixed" his grieving grandfather and inspires him to be a better man. It's very questionable and I'm not sure that's the right message to send.

Then there is the line it ends on.

"I guess there's a lot of things I used to do." He looked at Erik. "Maybe I just wanted a boy to do 'em with."

The reason he stopped doing everything was he grieved over his dead son. In ways this ending leaves me feeling he's vicariously getting his son back through his grandson wearing his son's clothes. While that can be taken sweetly, it could also be disturbing. Especially given the almost abusive nature he was displaying before.

Recommend it for a read, but not as a keeper.… (more)