In her debut novel, Kathi Appelt paints a rich, powerful story of love, devotion and pure evil. At first I thought it was too sweet with its animal characters to work as a YA, but I soon realized this compelling story is not for a middle grade crowd.
Ranger, an old bloodhound, is forced to live chained up underneath the porch of a broken down shack in the bayou. Ranger longs for friendship and love, so he howls continually. Out in the forest, an abandoned, pregnant calico cat hears his sorrow, so close to her own, and takes a chance by befriending the dog.
Ranger relishes this unlikely friend, and together they raise her two kittens in the safety of the "underneath," away from the cruel Gar-Face who lives above...until one day, Puck, the boy kitten, breaks the rules and sets off a chain of events that leads to tragedy, an unfulfilled promise and the hope of redemption.
Kathi Appelt has written a tale rich with sensuous descriptions of the bayou and the folklore of the native Indians who lived there and loaded with emotions. She has written evil as I've never read it before. At times the story was hard to read, as I could feel Gar Face's lack of compassion and pure hatred of life. Though some of his actions were predictable, I still found them shocking. And the surprise twist at the end made me a believer in devotion and true love. A must read.
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