THIS BOOK DESTROYED ME 😭

This story explores the depths of the bonds humans can have with their pets, and how deep that love, loyalty, and understanding can go despite being different species.

Wilson Rawls has created a rich, emotional tale – and a very well formed story, at that – set in the Missouri Ozarks about a resourceful boy named Billy and his two hunting hounds, Old Dan and Little Ann 🐕🐕

Billy relies on his dogs, and they rely on him. They have each other’s backs out in the danger of the wild. They communicate without speaking, practically read each other’s minds. Theirs is a symbiotic relationship, equally beneficial to and sacrificial of both.

While lots of people had this as required reading in middle school, it somehow slipped under my radar, so when I saw an old copy at my parents’ house last year, I grabbed it for a rainy day.

Well, the only thing raining was my eyes. Wow, a book has not made me sob like that since the last Harry Potter. But the sadness isn’t without purpose. It’s a beautiful story.

I can see why this is required reading at schools, because this is a book everyone should read.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

It’s strange indeed how memories can lie dormant in a man’s mind for so many years. Yet those memories can be awakened and brought forth fresh and new, just by something you’ve seen, or something you’ve heard, or the sight of an old familiar face.

—Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows