Search - Ginger Pye

I was very disappointed with this story, as I found it one of the few Newbery award winners that does not stand up to the test of time. I am sure I would have enjoyed it as a child, but as an adult I found it very slow paced and rather boring. Ten-year-old Jerry Pye has his heart set on a dog, and buys one with a hard-earned dollar. Little Ginger is a smart and lovable terrier who lives up to Jerry's expectations, and they spend many happy days together until tragedy strikes. While the book is sweet enough in its quaint portrayal of childhood in the 40's (or 50's?) it takes a very long and drawn-out 306 pages to tell a simple story that falls somewhat flat in the ending.

We ordered this book for homeschool use. We loved it and want to read more by this author.

On the back:
Meet the marvelous Pyes-
There is Mrs.Pye,the youngest mother in town;
Mr.Pye,a famous bird man,who handles all the nation's important bird problems;
Rachel Pye,who is so reasonable,she can make unreasonable ideas sound like good ones;
Jerry Pye,who knows about rocks of all sorts and plans to grow up to be a rock man;
Uncle Bennie,who is Rachel and Jerry's uncle-even though he is only three years old.
Lastly is Ginger Pye,the "intellectual dog",who Jerry bought for a hard-earned dollar.The most famous pup in all of Cranbury,Ginger knows tons of tricks,is as loyal as he is smart,and steals the hearts of everyone he meets...until someone steals him!

I know this book is on a Sonlight List - but it was horrific as a Read Aloud book. The story premise is actually very cute - but the writing is horrendous! The writer writes in circles - getting off point in almost every paragraph. Run-on Sentences were everywhere!