Where the Red Fern Grows

Title: Where the Red Fern Grows
Author: Wilson Rawls
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Reviewer: Taylor

The story starts out on Billy, a 10 year old boy. He’s just like any young boy, struck with puppy love, but for Billy, it goes farther than that. He keeps insisting that he needs hunting dogs. After a while, he starts getting sick because he wants them so bad. His father gets him traps to satiate him for a while, but soon, Billy’s father just tells him the truth. That they don’t have the money for it right now. Billy gives up on it for a while, but when he finds a catalog with an ad saying 2 coon dogs for $100, he starts raising the money on his own. After almost 2 years of collecting cans, he has the money. He walks almost 30 miles to get his dogs. Billy names the girl dog Little Ann and the boy dog Big Dan. He spends the entire off season training them and when the season finally starts, he goes right out hunting. He goes for almost 4 years with those dogs, going through lots of adventures; spending all night for one raccoon, a tragic death, and even mountain lions. He goes through it all with those dogs.

The ending is kind of sad. I won’t tell it all. There is so much to the story; it would be too much to say in one report. It’s so good; I couldn’t put it down until I was finished. I’d say this is good for anyone who likes a good, dramatic book. It’s the best, and it’s a classic. I know Mrs. Gorski’s reading class read it for an assignment, but you shouldn’t wait until you have to read it!