by Kate DiCamillo
Candlewick Press, Cambridge, MA: 2000.
When our protagonist and her father move to a new city in Florida, she is lonely. Quickly, though, she meets the dog that changes her life—and the life of everyone else in the new town. The two elements of community and family are also hard at work here. Many families are deeply affected when the community begins to heal. It is a beautiful piece of literature that many lessons can be derived from.
