The Pond Author:Robert Murphy meet Joey, a boy from Richmond, Virginia, groing through adolescence in the early years of this century. He is a boy in the mould of THE YEARLING's Jody Baxter, Penrod and Tom Sawyer. He's the sort of boy who never stays indoors when he can be outdoors. It is in the summer of 1917 that Joey and his best friend, Bud, drive the family Model T o... more »ut to the pond for the first time.
The pond is a magical world and it immediately captures Joey's haer. The reader is caught up with him in the excitement of the woods in early morning, in Joey's efforts to cath the big lunker bass he's seen flipping high out of the water, in waiting at dusk with old Mr. Ben for the wild turkeys to stir in the trees. We follow the dramatic progress of Joey, the young hunter and fisherman, toward a new stage of maturity, where observation of animals and nature becomes more important than the kill.
THE POND has an unusually appealing cast of characters, both animals and men. There's Sharbee, the hermit, who melts into nature like a tree or bush; Mr. Ben, fifty years older than Joey but a comtemporary in spirit; Charlie, the canny hound dog -- and all the animals around the pond; the otters and raccoons and mink and flying squirrels and rabbits.« less