Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner, Marcia Sewall (1988, Paperback, Reissue)

Ten year old Little Willie happily lives with his grandfather and his dog Searchlight on a potato farm in Wyoming. Willie enjoys living with his grandfather, but one day, his grandfather stays in bed and won't get up and won't talk. According to the doctor, Willie's grandfather is deeply depressed and has just given up on living. Willie thinks it is because of the harvest, but his grandfather still won't come back to normal even after a good harvest. Willie is puzzled -- what is making his grandfather so depressed?

Then Willie learns the answer when the tax man comes and tells them that they owe over ten years worth of back taxes -- well over $500 that must be paid very soon, or he will have to take the farm.

Willie knows one way to get $500 even though it's highly unlikely: enter the National Dogsled Races with Searchlight, his dog. Even though she is not a true sled dog nor has she raced before, Willie thinks that they both have a chance as a team since she knows the trail so well and because he is so small and light.

Their competition is a Native American called "Stone Fox." Stone Fox has never lost a race with his five powerful Samoyed sled dogs. Stone Fox has a reputation as a fierce person, but nobody knows really what he's like much since he refuses to talk to anyone. Nobody in the small town believes that Willie has any hopes at all of winning especially with Stone Fox and seven other contestants in the race.

The day of the race comes, and despite nobody even wagering any money on Willie and Searchlight, they have a good start. Searchlight knows the trail so well that she doesn't even have to slow down on the corners so both of them make good progress during the race. But in the final stretch, Stone Fox comes in neck and neck with Willie. Willie urges Searchlight on, but she drops dead just ten feet from the finish line. In a surprising turn of events, Stone Fox helps his challenger Willie and graciously concedes the race to Willie. The ending is quite sad, but Willie carries Searchlight over the finish line and wins the race, and assumedly his grandfather gets better since the taxes can be paid.

While this story is mainly for younger kids, "Stone Fox" is still an enjoyable "boy and his dog" story for all ages.

Great book about a young boy's quest to save his dying grandfather's farm. Very sad ending, but yet it is still a classic in my mind.

I finally received the book, took longer than I expected, with living less than 350 miles from the shipper, but it is in great shape.

I am using this book in my reading class and needed another copy for one of my students to mark in. It should work fine.