![]() ![]() North describes his own relationship to his surroundings, in particular a nearby lake, in loving detail, mirroring the times I’ve had the opportunity to explore creeks or swamps from my sons’ points of view (while grateful for their ability to do so). There’s also a lot to be learned about how to have a relationship to the natural world. The book accurately captures the intelligence, mischief, and alacrity that all young raccoons have, and in that, there’s a lot of humor. Reasons to read Rascalįirst let me say that as a writer, I adored the way the story unfolded and the attention to detail in North’s word choices and structure. Failing to capture her, however, he and his friend decide to kidnap Rascal as a “prize” for trying - the first in a series of wrongheaded decisions. Its bittersweetness is evident in its very first scene, showing the extent of humankind’s “dominion” over the natural world when young North rightly recognizes that the litter of babies is too young to be without their mother. Rascal is the memoir of North’s experience as a young boy who, in the spring and summer of 1918, “adopted” and raised a baby raccoon. It’s a beautifully written story, in fact, but that’s part of the problem: it does a great job of delivering a terrible message. ![]() Not because it’s bad it isn’t, by any stretch. ![]() Rascal: A Memoir of a Better Era, a Newbury Honoree book, is a tough book to review. ![]()
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