Shelly's Book Blog

My boys red Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls, for their high school English class this semester, so I decided to read it, too. The book is about ten-year-old Billy, who lives in the Ozark mountains with his family. He works very hard for two years to raise enough money to buy two hounds. Once they are trained, he enters them in a hunting contest. The story is filled with adventure and excitement but also with sadness. I was reminded of Rascal, by Sterling North, because it is about a boy who enjoys woodland adventures with his pets. Unlike North's memoir, however, Rawl's story includes a heavy healping of religious didacticism. Rawls uses Billy and Billy's parents as vehicles for these moral lessons, which I found rather distracting and unnecessary. I also felt that the book would have been better if Rawls had somehow lost the last two chapters before he sent the manuscript to his publisher. The end of the hunting contest seemed to me a satisfying ending to the story, and I felt that the tragedy of the last two chapters was just too over-the-top. Still, I would recommend the book. It is an exciting adventure and I admired Billy's determination and independent spirit.