Search - Sounder

The Powerful Newbery Award-Winning Classic

A landmark in children's literature, winner of the 1970 Newbery Medal, and the basis of an acclaimed film, Sounder traces the keen sorrow and the abiding faith of a poor African-American boy in the 19th-century South. The boy's father is a sharecropper, struggling to feed his family in hard times. Night after night, he and his great coon dog, Sounder, return to the cabin empty-handed. Then, one morning, almost like a miracle, a sweet-smelling ham is cooking in the family's kitchen. At last the family will have a good meal. But that night, an angry sheriff and his deputies come, and the boy's life will never be the same.

A landmark in children's literature, winner of the 1970 Newbery Medal and the basis of an acclaimed film, Sounder traces the keen sorrow and the abiding faith of a poor African-American boy in the 19th-century South.

Winner, 1970 Newbery Medal
Notable Children's Books of 1940–1970 (ALA)
1970 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
"Best of the Best" Children's Books 1966–1978 (SLJ)
Outstanding Children's Books of 1969 (NYT)
Best for Young Readers (NYTBR)
1970 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award
Children's Books of 1969 (Library of Congress)
Children's Books of the Year (CSA)
Some Select Children's Books of 1969 (Publishers Weekly)
Notable Books for the Portrayal of the Black in Children's Literature (Top of the News)
Mark Twain Award (Missouri)
1973 Nene Award (Hawaii)
1975 Sue Hefley Children's Book Award (Louisiana)