Stone Fox is an excellent novel about a young boy named Willy, who enters a dog sled race in order to raise money and save his grandfather's land. Willy and his dog Searchlight face numerous perils in this adventure as they are the underdogs against the undefeated competitor Stone Fox. The story is very compelling. However, there needs to back a foundation set before reading this text about the setting. This story would need some assistance from the social studies classroom, as it involves citizenship and Native American issues.After reading this for the second time in my life with about 15 years in between all I can say is what a story. I chose this novel because of the disgust my mind had for it since I read some time late in my elementary years. How could I be so naive? If anything it may have just been the author's writing style or maybe the dreary ending to the story that caused me, in my youth, to dislike this novel. The ending of the story is tough to take and if you are giving this book as a novel for the class to read, be sure to warn your students of the happenings at the end of the story.
Uh-oh. I'm not a huge fan of books with sad endings. But I really like the idea of a book about a dog sled race. I've always found that kind of way of life facinating.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of sad or bad endings either, but now you have gotten my curiosity up and compelled me to get this book to read for fun. What grade level do you think it is appropriate for and does it have any pictures?
ReplyDeleteI remember not liking this book either. It was always a book I wanted to read as a dog-obssessed elementary schooler, but I never got the motivation to read past the first couple chapters. I'll have to give it a second try as you did and see if I can maker it a little further this time.
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