Customer Rating:
Summary: It's historical fiction...not a minstrel show!
Comment: I just thought I should explain that clearly (hint, hint) after reading a few of the negative reviews. NOT a whole lot of singin' and dancin' going on in the south during Reconstruction, historically speaking that is. And this book doesn't make you feel "sad"...just oppressed...wait for it...ah, ha!...a masterpiece for all races, without a doubt. If younger readers don't get it, that might not be such a tragedy after all.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Just didn't do much for me.
Comment: William H. Armstrong, Sounder (Harper Collins, 1969)

Sounder is another book I read this year because I missed it when I was growing up; I somehow never had to read it for class when I was in school, and since my daughter did last year, I figured I'd give it a shot. And I had the same reaction as I did to the other book I read this year for the same reason (The House of Dies Drear)-- what's all the fuss about?

Sounder is the story of a boy and his dog. Early in the story, the boy's father is arrested for stealing a ham and carted away; as they're leaving, one of the policemen shoots the dog, who then disappears. Much of the rest of the book is spent on the unnamed boy searching for the dog, while learning to deal with having a father in prison and learning far more about the world than he ever wanted to know. So, in other words, not your normal a-boy-and-his-dog tale. Why I don't get what all the fuss is about is that books, especially those for younger readers, are supposed to be about character transformation; there can be no doubt that the subject of this book transforms, but there's no connecting the forces that cause him to transform (for none of it, as far as I could discern, comes from within; his transformation depends entirely on outward forces, which feels artificial) with his actual transformation except in the most basic, clumsy of ways. We don't actually see the boy transforming; we are given the forces, we cut to a later point in the story, and presto, the transformation has occurred without us having to see it-- or Armstrong having to write it.

None of this is to say it's necessarily a bad story. On its face, it works, and Armstrong keeps the pages turning. But in the greater scheme of things, it just seems to me there are a whole lot of books that handle everything here better; the obvious comparison is the superior Where the Red Fern Grows. It's not bad, but it's nothing special. ***

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Sounder Review
Comment: The novel Sounder, by William Armstrong, depicts a story about a young boy, his family and his dog. The story is set in the early 19th century and most of the events occur in and around the families meager cabin house. The novel opens with a scene depicting the boy (whose name remains unknown throughout the novel) and his father, a struggling sharecropper. The boy's attachment to his family and love for his dog is clear in the early lines of the story.
Soon the families struggle to earn money and survive leads the father to steal a ham in a desperate attempt to put food on the table. The next morning, the police arrest the father. As he is taken away, the boy attempts to hold onto the dog, who is snarling and lunging at the police. As night falls, one of the police officers shoots the dog. He lies, seemingly dead, in the road as the mother quickly ushers her young children inside.
The story continues as the boy searches desperately for his dog. His hope that the dog survived the gunshot turns sour as weeks go by. One day, the dog miraculously reappears, with a wounded shoulder and missing eye. The boy and his mother are astonished to see the dog still alive, and take him back into their home.
The family soon learns about the fate of the father. After being locked up in the town prison, he has been released to do hard labor. The boy searches for his father, sometimes walking miles only to find a long line of laboring men he cannot recognize. After one visit, he stumbles upon a school and is taken in by the head teacher. The boy has a book with him and the teacher reads him part of the story. After this encounter, the boy decides to go away to school in the winters and stay back to help with the harvest in the summers.
The boy continued at the school for several years. One summer when he was home, Sounder came running up to the house, barking wildly. The father followed shortly behind, dragging his leg which had been destroyed when dynamite exploded in a prison quarry. Eventually, his broken body let go, and the father dies. Sounder dies shortly after his master.

Negative aspects:
While Sounder is an engaging novel, some of the language used is simple and may not challenge all students in the upper grades. The vocabulary is not overly difficult, yet might be on the correct level for some students. Lastly, because Sounder was written in 1969 and takes place in a old, country setting, students may have difficulty relating to the characters and making connections to their own lives. However, the themes of family, loss of a loved one (even a pet) and courage will engage students in the story.

I would recommend Sounder to any middle school teacher. The novel is interesting, engaging and generally easy to read. It would be perfect to implement in literature circles or as a whole-class novel, as students could read chapters on their own or at home.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the best dog books I've ever read
Comment: Sounder is one of the best dog books I've ever read, even though there are some ups and downs in the plot. Comparing it to Shiloh and Because of Winn-Dixie, I realized sometimes ups and downs are good things. For example, in Shiloh it was always tense, and always what I call "up". In Sounder, though, there was calm "down" and tense "up". It is amazing how the author captures the reader's interest in a short story, whereas some longer books don't even get close to keeping the reader's nose in the book.

There were some slow parts, but on the other hand, it was a very good story, told very descriptively and in complete detail. The story starts out calmly, describing Sounder, a racoon or "coon" dog as the best, fastest, loudest and calmest of them all. The boy, his father a sharecropper, really wants to go hunting. The father doesn't allow him because it is cold and windy that night. The father says he won't have a good hunt anyway since the wind will blow away any animal scent. Later, the father steals a ham because his family is hungry and so poor. The father gets arrested for the theft, and the sheriff shoots Sounder in the process. Sounder crawls under the porch, and then isn't seen for a while. Finally, Sounder turns up, bone weary. The boy works in fields to earn money. The boy's father gets sent to many other jails across the state, so the boy sets out to find him. One day, the boy's father comes home. One whole side of him is distorted. That is because he got trapped beneath limestone while working in a prison quarry. Sounder is so happy to see his long-lost master that he lovingly welcomes him with a long bark: something he hadn't done in weeks. It was a very heartbreaking story.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Stunning, moving, richly detailed
Comment: I read this book a few summers ago, and I couldn't put it down. O'Neill's exhaustive research--including many personal interviews--helps solidify this book's place in the pantheon of great historical non-fiction of the 20th century. "The Firecracker Boys" picks up after World War II when the United States government, eager to find peaceful uses for nuclear power, proposed building a harbor near the remote Alaskan village of Point Hope using megaton nuclear explosions in a plan called "Project Chariot." The ambitious plan, which supporters felt could redeem nuclear weapons before the very eyes of a generation who saw its horrific power demonstrated on Japan, met fierce resistance among biologists, anthropologists, and most importantly local Alaska Native villagers of the region. These opponents feared radiation, debris fallout, and that the government continued to deny or downplay dangers of Project Chariot. O'Neill charts, in beautiful detail, the high-minded idealism of Project Chariot supporters against the burgeoning grassroots resistance which demanded fair recognition of Project Chariot's irreversible damage.

While Project Chariot first arrived, and met its doom, in a remote quarter of the globe, this story is firmly fixed on the world stage. This is not the anecdotal story of a failed gimmick; rather, this is the genesis of the movement towards limiting nuclear power, recognizing environmental impact, and treating Alaska Natives as more than haphazard bystanders to industrial progress. People, personalities, subplots, and larger impacts for the whole of humanity enliven this story and give Project Chariot a rich context. I whole-heartedly recommend this book.

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