Where the Red Fern Grows -- MAJOR SPOILERS

Where the Red Fern Grows was one of the classics that shaped my childhood. Recently, I decided to use some of my spare time to reread this wonderful book. 

The story is about a boy named Billy who wanted a hunting dog really bad. His family wasn't rich so he had to come up with raising money on his own. He spends a lot of effort selling fruit and other things to local fisherman to raise the money, but we as the readers know that they only bought from him out of pity and maybe because they liked him, as they never ate the fruit and just left it in their fishing spot.

Eventually he raises enough money, and manages to get two hunting dogs for a cheap price. After quite a bit of pondering, he decides to name them Old Dan and Little Ann. Soon he realizes that they were special. He won raccoon hunting competitions, and with the help of Old Dan's extraordinary sense of smell and Little Ann's wit, they caught the raccoon that was legendary in the area for being uncatchable. 

However, things start to go wrong. The neighbor's kid, who bullied him all the time, was in an accident and Billy witnessed it happen. It was extremely graphic and scared me when I first read the book as a child. Nonetheless, we get a glimpse of what life feels like after a traumatic event and how he learns to heal eventually.

Unfortunately this doesn't last for long. I'm not going to spoil anything (Old Dan gets ripped apart by a mountain lion, and Little Ann dies of grief a few days later), but an incident happens that brings Billy's life out of control. He uses the red fern as a way to remember his fallen companions as he moves away to a new town. 

This book was a really enjoyable read. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to feel sad and cry over fictional characters that have no influence in your life. Not that I've done that at all.

DJ