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Summary
Summary
Learning to walk again is the easy part.
For twelve-year-old Charley, recovering from the accident that shattered her leg is nowhere near as difficult as facing the solitude of a summer without her best friend and with a father who does nothing, now, but work. Solitude means time to think, time to hear for the first time the awful silence left in her world two years ago by her mother's death.
But the summer holds a surprise for Charley, in the form of a mysterious dog who appears in the woods across the lake from her home. In order to connect with this wild spirit she names Coyote, Charley will have to do more than just walk. She will have to follow Coyote into the heart of her memories: the woods her mother loved so much. And she will have to learn to listen past the silence.
This unsentimental, unforgettable story comes straight from the heart of Newbery Honor author Stephanie S. Tolan. As she describes Charley's difficult emotional and physical journey, she weaves together themes of nature, family, and love into a complex and powerful portrait of recovery.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-8-Charley's mother died just a short time ago, and, still raw with grief, the 12-year-old is faced with a miserable summer recuperating from a car accident that has left her with a slowly healing leg. Her best friend is spending the summer at tennis camp, and her father has buried himself in work because of his own pain. Her "physical terrorist" insists that she starts walking so she decides to make her way around a nearby lake. The woods hold too many memories of her mother and her nature photography so she's avoided that area up till now. On her first day out, she encounters a stray dog. She names him Coyote and sets out to see if she can tame him. The girl and the dog have an almost psychic connection; Charley can feel the trauma Coyote has been through even as he helps her to heal physically as well as emotionally. Even Charley's dad opens up. This is a sweet, gentle story of healing and the strong bond that can develop between humans and animals. The lovely imagery and involving plot should appeal to more than just animal lovers.-Diana Pierce, Running Brushy Middle School, Cedar Park, TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate) Grievously injured twice in two years, first by the death of her mother and then in a car accident, twelve-year-old Charley is emotionally and physically disabled. In the summer after sixth grade, Charley begins, painfully, to learn to walk again. She won't, however, walk in the woods she roamed with her nature-photographer mother throughout her childhood, just as she won't look at her photographs or even think about her much. It's a dog who lures Charley out of her inward-looking state, a wild dog who clearly needs food and care but won't come near enough to accept help. Charley consults people and books but finds that she must use her own sensitivity to figure out how best to approach the wary animal. Charley must be satisfied with tiny gains for the most part, but as the dog she dubs Coyote becomes more trusting, Charley also begins to open herself up -- to memories of her mother and to the solace of nature. This gentle tale features Tolan's graceful way with words and her acute observations of the natural world, dogs in particular. Its slow pace and focus on description will not grip all readers, but those willing to take the time to savor the experience will be rewarded. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
In the hands of a less-talented author, the story of a half-wild dog and the heartbroken girl who tames him might have descended into saccharine sentimentality. Luckily, Tolan's tale, although somewhat predictable, is well-written and engaging. Charlene, known as Charley, is a sixth-grader recovering from the effects of a recent car accident and still unable to accept the death of her mother two years earlier. Cared for by her distant, workaholic father and a housekeeper, Charley resents the changes in her life and initially resists her father's attempts to encourage her to spend more time outdoors. When she sees a strange dog, however, her interest is piqued and she begins to exercise regularly in her efforts to get close to him. Tolan's decision to use the present tense adds suspense and immediacy. The long, drawn-out process of taming the dog, which Charley names Coyote, is clearly described and will likely enthrall dog lovers. Charley's emotional recovery is handled more delicately, allowing readers to discern thematic parallels without feeling manipulated. Touching and heartwarming. (Fiction. 11-14) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 4-7. The approaching summer looms bleakly over 12-year-old Charley. Her best friend has left for tennis camp, her father's 80-hour workweek ensures he never has time for her, and she still mourns the death of her mother, a nature photographer who died in a plane crash two years earlier. Charley, who is recovering from a recent car accident, is frustrated with the long hikes she must take to strengthen her injured leg. But on one such walk she meets Coyote, a shy, intelligent stray, and through the process of taming and opening her heart to the dog, Charley learns to feel again and comes to terms with her mother's death. The pacing is slow and thoughtful, the descriptions of nature are evocative, and a touch of magic realism in Charley and Coyote's relationship will charm readers who imagine their own mystical connections with pets. Pair this with Ann M. Martin's A Dog's Life (2005) for another story about a stray, a popular middle-school topic. --Jennifer Hubert Copyright 2006 Booklist