The Yearling

No novel better epitomizes the love between a child and a pet thanThe Yearling.Young Jody adopts an orphaned fawn he calls Flag and makes it a part of his family and his best friend. But life in the Florida backwoods is harsh, and so, as his family fights off wolves, bears, and even alligators, and faces failure in their tenuous subsistence farming, Jody must finally part with his dear animal friend. There has been a film and even a musical based on this moving story, a fine work of great American literature.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (1896-1953) won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Yearling. She is also the author of the novel Cross Creek. She lived in Florida. Patricia Reilly Giff is the celebrated author of the Newbery Honor book Lily's Crossing, as well as the popular Polk Street School chapter book series.