In a weird tale where running away from home fixes all your conflicts because your grandparents are nice like that, this book's not bad. It's obviously a manipulation of grief on Erik's part some, and kind of questionable as he technically grave robs, along with stealing someone's dog, but it's not the most putrid thing I've read.

The conflicts however are resolved in mere hours of his life.

Conflict: Erik is sent off by his parents before he can hunt.
Resolve: He ends up in nowhere North Dakota, finds a dog, and by the next day he's gone off to hunt illegally.

Conflict: Erik doesn't like where he's sent, his grandparents are cold and grieving and their daughter, his mother, obviously left and didn't look back.
Resolve: He takes the new dog he's found and leaves.

Conflict: Erik's bad at shooting.
Resolve: He remembers the lessons and shoots good.

Conflict: He's hungry.
Resolve: He finds mouse-chewed candy bars, chips, and soda that likely have been left out for a year in an abandoned house.

These are just a hand full of examples, there's at least four more I can think of off the bat, one of which is this one. His grandfather is cold and closed up and callous, even abrasive towards him. Erik runs away. When he comes back, his grandfather has been "fixed". That's not me saying it, his grandmother straight up calls it that. Him running away "fixed" his grieving grandfather and inspires him to be a better man. It's very questionable and I'm not sure that's the right message to send.

Then there is the line it ends on.

"I guess there's a lot of things I used to do." He looked at Erik. "Maybe I just wanted a boy to do 'em with."

The reason he stopped doing everything was he grieved over his dead son. In ways this ending leaves me feeling he's vicariously getting his son back through his grandson wearing his son's clothes. While that can be taken sweetly, it could also be disturbing. Especially given the almost abusive nature he was displaying before.

Recommend it for a read, but not as a keeper. ( )

In a weird tale where running away from home fixes all your conflicts because your grandparents are nice like that, this book's not bad. It's obviously a manipulation of grief on Erik's part some, and kind of questionable as he technically grave robs, along with stealing someone's dog, but it's not the most putrid thing I've read.

The conflicts however are resolved in mere hours of his life.

Conflict: Erik is sent off by his parents before he can hunt.
Resolve: He ends up in nowhere North Dakota, finds a dog, and by the next day he's gone off to hunt illegally.

Conflict: Erik doesn't like where he's sent, his grandparents are cold and grieving and their daughter, his mother, obviously left and didn't look back.
Resolve: He takes the new dog he's found and leaves.

Conflict: Erik's bad at shooting.
Resolve: He remembers the lessons and shoots good.

Conflict: He's hungry.
Resolve: He finds mouse-chewed candy bars, chips, and soda that likely have been left out for a year in an abandoned house.

These are just a hand full of examples, there's at least four more I can think of off the bat, one of which is this one. His grandfather is cold and closed up and callous, even abrasive towards him. Erik runs away. When he comes back, his grandfather has been "fixed". That's not me saying it, his grandmother straight up calls it that. Him running away "fixed" his grieving grandfather and inspires him to be a better man. It's very questionable and I'm not sure that's the right message to send.

Then there is the line it ends on.

"I guess there's a lot of things I used to do." He looked at Erik. "Maybe I just wanted a boy to do 'em with."

The reason he stopped doing everything was he grieved over his dead son. In ways this ending leaves me feeling he's vicariously getting his son back through his grandson wearing his son's clothes. While that can be taken sweetly, it could also be disturbing. Especially given the almost abusive nature he was displaying before.

Recommend it for a read, but not as a keeper. ( )

This is a realistic fiction story about a 12 year old boy named Erik who has to go and live in North Dakota, with his grandparents, that he doesn't know very well, while his parents are deployed overseas with the Army Reserves. All Erik ever really wanted to do was go hunting and own his own hunting dog. Now that he is in North Dakota, he thinks his dreams will never come to pass, so he makes a choice to run away. Will he be able to survive on his own? Erik makes many discoveries about family secrets, commitment, survival,courage,and the power of love. This is a wonderful book for young men, in particular, but also for anyone who is wanting to be independent and follow their dreams. ( )

Erik is a young boy from North Dakota. He is left with his grandparents for six months while his parents both get deployed overseas. As he simply cannot stand it any longer, he decides to run away. He isn't going all alone though-he has his dog named Quill. To survive on his own (with Quill of course), he brings along his shotgun to hunt. Since he has a hunting license, he can hunt birds to serve as most of his meals. He later realizes that this was a mistake as he gets taken to the police station for a reward.

I thought that this book was okay. It wasn't my favorite just because it wasn't exactly realistic. How do people not think anything of a small boy walking down the road with a shotgun? The actual story though, was decent. I liked the adventurous way of Erik. This book is good for anyone that likes adventure books. Might be best for younger readers though. ( )

Twelve-year-old Erik Carlson has plans, big plans, He is finally old enough to get his New York State hunting license. He's passed the hunter safety course, and is actually going to go hunting with his friend Patrick, Patrick's dad, and their bird dog Hot Spots. But what good does it do for a kid to make plans? Suddenly, Erik's parent are deployed overseas as Army Reservists and he is sent to the Middle of Nowhere, North Dakota, to live with grandparents he barely knows. Oma, his meek and mild grandmother, is okay. But why is his grandfather Big Darrell so mean? And what's the big deal about the closed room at the top of the stairs? When Erik finds and rescues a dog that's been stuck by a porcupine, Big Darrell says the dog can stay one night and no longer. But Erik has already named her Quill and can't bear to give her up. He sets off, taking the dog and a gun, determined that they can make it on their own out on the prairie. ( )