Story Summary
A young African American boy is living in a small town during a period of harsh prejudice. The main storyline is the injury of his dog, Sounder. The boy has to deal with the injury and many other hardships. The boy's father is jailed and treated horribly. The boy tries to find his father and find his own identity. His real goal, though, is to learn to read. All of his searching teaches him about the closed-mindedness of the world.
Lesson IdeasThe boy in this Newbery winner has to learn a lot in order to protect himself. All of this occurs when things go wrong. The boy is assisted during bad times by the teacher who taught him and took him under his wing. Encourage children to think of times in their lives when things have gone wrong for them. Have them write thank you notes to the people who helped them get through those times.
Many children have not thought about what it would be like to be unable to read. Have children keep a journal for a day of all of the things that they read. From the label on the breakfast cereal to the instructions on the board at school, children need to read. This will help children to relate to the main character's quest to become literate. There are many websites that promote literacy understanding.