When I was a child, I loved to read and that passion has followed me into adulthood. The books I loved to read were The Little House on the Prairie series written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I so enjoyed following the lives of this pioneer family and watching the main character and author of these books, Laura, as she grew up along with her siblings. Laura grows up to be a teacher in a one-room school and later she becomes an author. When the tv series began, I was so excited to watch these books come to life through the actors and actresses who played the parts of the characters I grew to love.
The book that made the biggest impact on me was Sounder by William H. Armstrong when I was in the 6th grade. This book was the winner of the 1970 Newbery Medal and follows the difficult childhood of a poor African American boy late 1800’s set in the South. His father is a sharecropper who struggles to feed his family during those hard times. Angry and humiliated when his sharecropper father is jailed for stealing food for his family, the boy grows in courage and understanding by learning to read and through his relationship with his devoted dog Sounder. This book really spoke to my heart because I could not imagine what life must have been like for this poor child, his family, and other African Americans during that time in history.
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