Sounder

Loving devotion, decency and courage can come from an assortment of places-our mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and friends-but one would not immediately suspect that those qualities would or could come from a scruffy, beat-up old coon dog named Sounder. It just goes to show that pluck and deep affection can soar up and out where we least expect it. In the heart of the old South there is a deep-rooted and pervasive, detrimental thinking that is the general make-up of the majority's attitude. It is a stark divide or code of ethics that one must live by in order to survive. Quite simply and horribly: white is good, black is bad. In the vortex of this dark thinking is a hard working, nameless black family (any black family), innocent people minding their own business and simply trying to survive. There are three things that help them rise above their abysmal poverty: 1) each other 2) stories imbued with biblical truths and 3) Sounder. However, as time elapses and weather conditions grow more harsh, the severity of starvation grips the family, eventually causing the father to commit a crime of despair: stealing food (sound Dickens-like?). Upon getting 'found' out, the misery only doubles when the father is led away (for many years) in chains like a psychopathic cut-throat killer and Sounder (like Old Yeller) is wounded in trying to help his master. But it is in the moment of arrest and thereafter that Sounder evolves from a simple hunting dog to a kind of guardian angel, drifting in and out of the picture, while the eldest son developes from a fatherless boy-searching desperately for him-into a determined young man eager to better himself and his situation. As the bleakness of prejudicial inhumanity slowly abates and the remaining family members start their lives anew, Sounder and the father emgerge back into the picture-physically infirm and mentally wounded by the cruelties of life, but those wounds heal, when, like Christ and Mary, they ascend to the realm of peace, leaving behind a stark truth for the boy and those left behind: "The Lord is my shepard; I shall not want, He maketh me lie down in green pastures." Sounder is a wonderful book for both children and adults and most deserving of its 1970 Newbery Medal.

I give the novel, "Sounder", by William H. Armstrong 5 stars.

"Sounder" is such a great book because of how it's innocence, depression, and southern hospitality blend together in such a way that the reader becomes entranced by the many impressions the book gives. The book can go from describing the sweet smell of a fresh ham in the morning to the gruesome, gory wounds on Sounder's face. This book is about a black family and their noble dog Sounder. They live deep in the south on a plantation. The father is taken to jail and as he is being taken away Sounder, being the truthful dog that he is, chases after him and is unfortunately shot.

As the oldest boy of 4 children sets out on quests to find his father, he becomes more and more provoked to learn to read. His need to learn to read and write is finally satisfied when he runs into a teacher that takes him in as a student at his home. He still comes home to help saw trees down or do other work around the house.

Other titles I recommend are, "Holes", "Around the World in Eighty Days" and "A Single Shard." I'm a middle school student in North Carolina and I enjoyed every page of "Sounder".

I give the novel, "Sounder", by William H. Armstrong 5 stars.

"Sounder" is such a great book because of how it's innocence, depression, and southern hospitality blend together in such a way that the reader becomes entranced by the many impressions the book gives. The book can go from describing the sweet smell of a fresh ham in the morning to the gruesome, gory wounds on Sounder's face. This book is about a black family and their noble dog Sounder. They live deep in the south on a plantation. The father is taken to jail and as he is being taken away Sounder, being the truthful dog that he is, chases after him and is unfortunately shot.

As the oldest boy of 4 children sets out on quests to find his father, he becomes more and more provoked to learn to read. His need to learn to read and write is finally satisfied when he runs into a teacher that takes him in as a student at his home. He still comes home to help saw trees down or do other work around the house.

Other titles I recommend are, "Holes", "Around the World in Eighty Days" and "A Single Shard." I'm a middle school student in North Carolina and I enjoyed every page of "Sounder".

My book is called Sounder by William H. Armstrong. The main character of Sounder is "the boy" who cares for his family. The father is also a very hard worker and tries to keep things running. The mother is a nice woman, but she worries a lot. Sounder is a dog that hunts for possum and other animals because it gives food for the family.

The story takes place in the south in the early 1900s. The boy's family is black and they are sharecroppers. One day the sheriff walks in and arrests the boy's father for stealing. When he takes his dad away, the sheriff tells the boy to keep that dog from chasing the wagon. The boy couldn't hold the dog much longer. The dog goes chasing after the wagon, and then the sheriff looks out the window and takes aim at Sounder. After this, the boy's life will never be the same.

Read the book to find out what eye-popping events happen next. If you like dogs and suspense then it is almost guaranteed you will be hooked to this book for hours. Some people might say this is a bad book but if you like dogs and suspense then you'll like this.

Sounder won the Newberry Medal award in 1970. The story tells of a poor black family living likely in the South and working on a farm. They do not seem to be enslaved, so it seems to be during the sharecropping era.
The main character in the story is a young boy who's father owns a coon dog named Sounder. Sounder is the only character in the story that is given a name by the author. The boy's father steals a ham and is taken into custody, during which the hunting dog is shot and but the body isn't found. The boy then becomes focused on finding the dog and his father as the story continues. The dogs returns in mangled condition before the father is released. The boy then stumbles upon a school teacher who helps him begin his quest for literacy. His mother allows him to stay with her as she finds the teacher to be a "gift from God." Later in the story the father comes home and him and the dog go hunting. The boy's dad never returns and Sounder leads the boy to the body of his dead father. Shortly after that the dog is found dead under the porch by the mother while the boy was off with the school teacher.
The plot seems a bit intense and offsetting at times, but there's a clear moral. The boy does not react with sadness at the deaths but becomes glad as he can now read many things in a book that he discovered along the way. A book that would go well with boys in the 3-5 grade levels.

My daugher was assigned "Sounder" as one of her summer readings for her English class this coming year. I read the book with her because I thought this would be a great opportunity to open a conversation and as a chance to reread the classics if she doesn't apply a similar value to the opportunity...which will most likely be the case.

Therefore, undeterred, I began reading. William Armstrong wrote Sounder based on stories he heard growing up in the south. Seemingly recording an oral tradition of sorts, the way these stories were handed down from generation to generation, along with the many Biblical stories that strengthened Christian values within the African-American Culture. No doubt there was more than one black family with a hunting dog that faced similar oppression during the 106 years since emancipation and this book's publication in 1969. As it turns out, I was living in Alabama in 1969, I was five. I know I read Sounder at some point...although I can't remember when the exposure first came. But I remembered that Sounder was the name of a great hunting dog owned by a poor black family...and who doesn't love a story about dogs...even if it might end sadly. The story of the dog, however, unlike other dog stories, is nowhere near the plotline.

This story is about the boy and his journey to literacy and ultimately manhood...it is told completely through the boy's perspective. Sounder, isn't even his dog. Sounder is his father's hunting dog. Whereas the boy cares deeply for Sounder, he cares even more for his father. It is the boys journey to discover his father's fate, that propels him forward. The responsibility he showed towards his family and his literacy are strong and important lessons which should be the overriding themes.

However, important as it is for young men to recognize the power of literacy and how important it is for the rest of us to understand the injustices of racial prejudice, there are several lessons in Sounder that perhaps we shouldn't be conveying to young men of any ethnicity. First, that fathers are absent because they're were jailed, rightly or wrongly, for trying to feed their family. And second, that it's OK to hate your oppressor, to the point where you visualize their death in graphic detail, as long as you don't act on it.

Both messages are extremely confusing, particularly for young readers. Even more so given the fact that Armstrong ties the story closely with Biblical passages conveyed through the boy's mom...most from the Old Testament First, even if a father is removed from his family unjustly, as might have been the case on countless occasions, that should never be considered normal and allowed to continue despite the comfort humming "The Lonesome Road" might bring to his mother. And second, the seeds of hatred are sowed both ways. The Christian message would be one of forgiveness not one of revenge, even if only in one's mind. "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do," would be more consistent with the storyline, rather than, "...The bull-necked man would sag to his knees...and crumple into a heap on the floor...and blood would ooze out of his mouth and nose." As gratifying and just as it would be to see this particular man die in this particular way, in this particular case it is a very confusing theme and detracts from the overall purpose of this story. Start with five stars because Sounder is, and will remain an important book. Subtract one star for each major inconsistency that causes its message to flounder. Three stars for this children's classic.

Sounder a touching book about the strong and lasting ties of hardship, love,and loyalty. This story begins when a boy, a dog named Sounder and the boy's family begin a journey. When a African American family in the deep south, tries to survive the hardships left from the Civil War, problems start to occur, such as poverty and predjudice people. This is a story about a boy, a father, and a dog, Sounder. All the boy wants to do is conquer is ambition in life which is to read and write. Throughout the book , bible stories help the boy go down the paths in his long journey of life. On the other hand Sounder a coon dog, would go to the ends of the Earth for his master, the boy's father. I thought Sounder was a great book because it showed loyalty, faith,and perserverence, in the end as the boy's mother says " only the lord could make a story as beautiful as Sounders". So if you're looking for a fantastic, heartfelt,and wonderful book Sounder just might be the one you are looking for.

Here's a little bit about the book "Sounder"...
It was first published in the 1960's and the story is about a black family living in the South. It tells of that family's hard times, a great coon dog named Sounder, and how they all pull together and survive what has been thrown their way in life.

Lovely piece of literature. I'd recommend it for anyone to read (teens, adults, or boys and girls 10 & up). I love the author's writing style... how the names of the people are never revealed--you only know Sounder's name. It seems to keep the other characters in a slight obscurity, as if there is a shadow over their face and you cannot see the person... but yet, you know everything about them. I like how the author did that for this book.

Superb, and excellent! I will be sure to read "Sounder" again someday.

Sounder by William H. Armstrong has long been considered a classic in children's literature. It's the simple story of a young African American boy and his beloved dog named Sounder. The boy comes from a poor Southern iliterate family. Sounder is his best friend.

In Sounder, Armstrong writes simply about the times of being an African American young male in the South in the early twentieth century. The story was published in the late 1960s and earned plenty of accolades. The story was later made into a film with Cicely Tyson in an Oscar nominated performance as the mother.

While the story may not be complicated, it's beautifully done to capture the essence and momentum of the time that it was written. It is still read today and recommended in schools for young students.
It can be a tear jerker, so you will need a box of tissues.

You gotta walk that lonesome valley. You gotta walk it by yourself. Ain't nobody else gonna walk it for you. You gotta walk it by yourself. -Jesus Walked this Lonesome Valley, (American Spiritual)
In the Author's Note to the copy of this book that I just read, William Armstrong, who was white, says that he first heard this story from an old black teacher who used to worship at his local church :
It is the black man's story, not mine. It was not from Aesop, the Old Testament, or Homer. It was history--his history.
I don't know whether it is, in fact, a true story, but as Armstrong's own assertion acknowledges, it is the stuff of myth.
Sounder is the loyal coon hunting dog of a family of black sharecroppers. At the heart of the tale is the oldest son in this family, plagued by loneliness, helpless rage, and a burning desire to learn to read. The owner of the land they live on has been careful to space families out, presumably so that they won't band together, so they basically have no neighbors and it is too far for the boy to walk to school. The boy's parents are strong willed, and his mother is deeply religious, but they are very reserved. The boy is very much alone, more so because he can't read, and Sounder is very nearly his best friend. Even this rather isolated world is shattered though when the father is sent to prison for stealing a ham and the men who come to take him away shoot Sounder in the process.
The story of how first Sounder and then the family heal themselves and of how the boy eventually learns to read are really moving. The fact that only Sounder is given a name in the story adds to the mythic quality and the mother's constant singing of "Lonesome Valley" imparts a Biblical touch. It may be too powerful for younger kids, but teens and even adults will love it.
GRADE : A

Sounder

 

 

             Sounder is a book by William Armstrong. Sounder is about the life of a boy when his father g oes to jail for steal food for his desperate family. The boy's family contains his father, his mother, his little brother, two little sisters and his dog Sounder. While his father is in jail the boy has to fill his fathers place in the sharecropping business. The main character in Sounder is a boy in a sharecropping family living with his father in jail.  A strength of this book is that it was understandable; it is not needed to know much about the share-cropping time period to read this book. A weakness is that William Armstrong did not have any names for the characters beside the general names such as mother, father, he, she etc. The type of reader that would enjoy this book is one interested in the history of sharecropping times. 

A very melancholic book, with flitting glimpses of happiness and a little joy, intersperesed with suffering and resignation -- but oh so fitting as a book to be read after Roll of Thunder.

It follows the lives of an Afro-American sharecropper family in a nameless horse and buggy era, as seen through the eyes of the eldest boy, whose father is arrested and then imprisioned, to work on a chain gang for years -- for stealing a ham.

No one in this book has a name - only the dog Sounder, whose will to live is as powerful as his voice.

The book's illustrations, shade of grey and black -- mirror the emotions of resignation, fear, lonliness, brutality, AND quiet determination, which course through the narrative.

MUCH food for thought here, not just for grades 4 through 6 but for teenagers and adults as well.

A compelling and upsetting story of a black family of the rural South. We should all be be in awe of the strength and perseverance of this family.
I just wish that there had been more insight into how Sounder perceived and coped with everything.
This story of a humble, strong family and their noble hound is well worth reading.

The unnamed narrator of this book is a black boy, living in the south after the Civil War. The boy's father, a sharecropper, struggles to support his family, but can't always provide for their needs. When he comes home with an entire ham, the family is suspicious, and no one is surprised when the police come looking for him. The police lead away the father, in the process shooting and wounding his coon dog, Sounder.
Nobody expects that Sounder will survive, the same as most would doubt the boy's survival in such an existence of poverty and despair. Yet the dog does survive, and so does the boy. Both display a resilience made all the more amazing by the deprivation of their backgrounds.
The boy, who visits his father in prison, meets a kindly teacher who becomes a sort of foster father. The boy learns to read and write, tools he needs to become empowered and to escape his desperate situation. While Armstrong doesn't give any false hope -- we know that the boy will face many more difficulties -- he makes the book a testament to the power of the human spirit to overcome despair and, ultimately, to triumph.

The book i read was Sounder, by Willam H. Armstrong, is a great book for children ages ten and up. I like Sounder because it tells about how times used to be when blacks were treated poorly, and what the had to do for to get food on there table. It is a story that touches your heart, and you would feel sorry for what is going on in there lives. The book is about a black family, who are sharecroppers, and have a dog named Sounder who is loved very much by his family, and which they take care of. The father is forced to steal for his starving family but is caught and put in jail for what he has done. I recommend this book for a wonderful reading experience, and for kids that like reading novels or that would like to know what know how familys of the 19th century had to do to live like they wanted to. So enjoy the book!

Sounder is about an coon dog that became friends with an African American father and son in the 19th century where there is a lot of racism and black people were very poor. Sounder and the father loved to go hunting. The boy's father is placed in jail by the Sheriff and Sounder chases after the wagon. He is then shot in the leg and shoulder and he runs away. The boy looks for Sounder and his father and is unable to find them. He is sad because he thinks Sounder is dead and he will never find his father. He eventually finds where his father is in jail and goes to see him to let him know he misses him. He later finds Sounder as a crippled dog and brings him back home. His father is released from jail and also returns home. They go on to live happily ever after and the father and Sounder begin to hunt again.

This book tells the story of a sharecropper's family and their dog, Sounder. The story happens in the 19th century American South.
More importantly, I feel this story tells about courage and determination during hard times.
The focus is on Sounder because he is a hunting dog and a major contributor to the families' food supply. however, I think Sounder is the only character named in this story for deeper reasons.
When the father is taken to jail on some trumped-up charge, Sounder is seriously wounded trying to protect him. Despite his crippling injury, Sounder returns home. Sounder's recovery and persistance is a symbol of what the family members want to do. When the father returns, also crippled, the old dog, previously silent, lets out one last resounding, triumphant bark.
This is a compassionate and compelling book, one I couldn't put down. Even though it was sad, it was full of love.

I found the book to be intricately simple. The plot demonstrates the concept that less is more. Simplicity by design or design by simplicity -- this plot makes you wonder which one permeates the story. Words often fail when attempting to impart a story such as this one. Sadly, I believe the depth found in this story can be easily skimmed over.

The boy lives in a time that is deeply contrasted by our day. Commonly, people do not fear starvation for their own children. The plot maps clearly what loneliness and subjugated fear look like in children living to survive. Or is it surviving just to live? And yet, through the trials of this young man in the story, his dog Sounder, and his daddy, something beyond pure human understanding forges within him a bright and happy outlook on life. The reader is tested as he learns more of the boy's life story. He is taken through excruciating details of his life and by the very reading is asked to respond. The reader has the choices of becoming bitter about the plight of the character or confirming to himself that white people are cruel or the reader can miss entirely the deeply mined jewel that comes forth at the very end of the story and write the story off as one that is empty of true meaning, banal.

This story told about a heavenly God that works in us in ways we do not understand.

The novel "Sounder" was great compared to any other books I read.I thought this book was terrific because it gave you answers to your questions you thought about along the way. Also this book is worth reading because it had some action and the boy had many adventures.If you were wondering "Who is Sounder?" Well Sounder is a coon dog who stands up for his master all the time. The story "Sounder" was about a boy who is looking for Sounder and his father.The boy is looking for Sounder because he got shot by a sherrif while his dad was getting arrested.The boy continued looking for Sounder but couldn't find him. Is Sounder alive? Dead? Injured? Read the story to find out.Thank you for reading my article about "Sounder and I hope you read the book. You wont be dissapointed.

"Sounder raced after the wagon. No one yelled after him. The mother stood still in the doorway. The deputy who wasn't holding the reins turned on the seat, aimed his shot gun at the dog jumping at the side of the wagon and fired." This moment changes the life of a young, African-American boy and his feelings toward others. He undergoes the hardship of racism toward him and the family. The boy is determined to find his dad, who had been arrested because of stealing a ham for the family. He also continues to look for Sounder, the dog who had been shot and ran away. Then his luck changes. I give this book four stars because the subject matter did not catch my attension but still is a great story told from the eye of a African-American boy who didn't give up.

I think the book, Sounder, by William H. Armstrong, was very good. The story is about a boy who has a dog named Sounder. The family is poor so the father must steal to feed his family. His father is taken to jail and Sounder tries to protect him but gets hurt. What I thought was interesting about this book is the story is based upon William Armstrong's teacher's life experience of this. I enjoyed the way it made me think about the story in different ways. I enjoyed the characters because they had distinct personalities. For instance, the boy was very determined to find his father, and the other characters thoughts and emotions were very well described. All of the story elements together helped me picture the story as if I had witnessed it. The setting was described in great detail just like the plot and the characters were also. It was amazing that everything about the book could seem so real. The thing I enjoyed most in the story was the way the dog's bark was described. It was described with beautifully written similes and metaphors to portray how it sounded. The dog, Sounder, was named for it's bark because people could hear the bark louder and richer than any other dog's bark. For all of these reasons I will highly recommend this book with five out of five stars. There were only two things in this story I did not like very much. One is the abruptness of the time periods. In one paragraph it went from seasons to years. Another is that not very much detail about the boy when he was searching for his father was given. Overall though, I felt this book was one that should be read more than once.

Sounder By: William H. Armstrong was a great book. Taking place in the mid 1900's in Virginia it told the story of a young boy who was very poor. Usually they had nothing to eat. Until one morning when they had a full breakfast of ham and other breakfast foods. A sheriff came to the house and took the father ways saying he had stolen the goods. Sounder the dog ran after him in an attempt to find him. Later both the family dog and the father would be killed. A tough life for such a young boy. This book made me think about how much I have and how many families not only have tough lives but no food in the house to eat. The boy later met his goal of learning to read hoping to have a better life. I would give this book 5 stars......

In the nearly 35 years since it was published, SOUNDER has lost none of its original power or impact. That's not only the mark of great children's literature, it's the mark of great writing at any level.
SOUNDER is the story of a poor African American family in the late 19th century south. Sounder, the family's hunting dog, is responsible for much of the family income: he finds and tracks game that the father can eat and sell. Problems arise when the local white sheriff and his men think the family has become a little too prosperous. An event then happens which becomes a turning point in the oldest boy's life. (The story is told with painful honesty from his point of view.)
Author Armstrong masterfully drops the reader into a different era, an era we would like to forget. It's not a comfortable time and it's not a comfortable story, but it is a powerful one. The story is a simple one, but Armstrong paints on a large canvas, full of description so vivid and true that we feel we're there, walking on the cold ground, smelling the countryside, and even feeling the wetness of the tears and blood.
I believe it's significant that Sounder is the only character named in the book. This is the boy's story, but it could be any boy. He represents a sort of "every man," or "every child," if you will. The boy learns several important lessons along the way, some of them coming from unlikely sources.
SOUNDER is one of those stories that not only entertain children, but teach them valuable lessons in human nature, relationships, and learning. A very, very important book for us all.
116 pages with illustrations

I did not really enjoy the book Sounder because the book did not emotionally move me.I didn't really connect with the book.But the suspense was a little catching to me as a reader.I gave the book four stars because it is a very good book ,but I must inform that it is not a book I would ,so to speak,have my nose in and my eyes locked on.I didn't really get what the main idea of what the book was about.Some parts were not well detailed.
I would have to say the book was quite thrilling and short.Sort of,'short and sweet.'Like I had mentioned before,the book is very good,but it would not be a book that I would really enjoy.

I think the book Sounder was a sad and courageous story. It was sad when the father was being dragged by the wagon on the rough, course, rocky ground with his shirt stained red with blood. He did it for his family and that was one of the bravest things I've ever heard anyone do. Even though he knew it was his fate, Sounder fought beside him till the very end. Sounder was shot trying to save his master,but he still didn't save him. As weeks passed,they didn't think Sounder would return, but he did. He may have been half dead, but he came, and so did his master as they took their last hunt, and he became The Mighty Spirit.

I remember reading the book for the first time in graduate school as a candidate for a Master's in Reading and Language. During a "book whip," I shared my reaction to my chosen text (Sounder), and I remember an older woman having to cover her mouth while laughing at what I was expressing about how extremely moved I was by the story. Granted, she hadn't ever read the book, but when I was describing how I was literally gulping while weeping during my reading, I guess she was emotionally unable to even remotely fathom the deep humility and pathos of Armstrong's piece.

Despite my fellow classmate's glaringly insensitive and completely surprising response, I continued to share how I could very much relate to the seething anger the boy felt for those who severely disrespected him and his family, and I couldn't help but ruminate on how pathetic it must be for the woman to not grasp the intense suffering the family in text experience. My only conclusion: it would be very sad to be someone who laughs off pain in order to avoid benefitting from its purging and sensitizing ability.

Oh, well... 'nough said. My recommendation: Read the book and be forever transformed.

P.S. She eventually told me that she read the book based on my acclaim of it, but that she still couldn't relate to the emotions the family experienced. Though I was polite enough to merely smile and nod my head at her, I secretly thought, "Better just stick to comedies and keep yourself distracted." Oh, and did I forget to mention that the woman is a former school principal and currently a writing teacher at a middle school. Go figure...

I recommended this book to anyone who likes to read. Sounder is one of my favorite books out of all the books I have read. I really liked the book because I can make a connection with the boy when he looses his dog and it comes back. When I was little my cat ran away and came back 3 months, later when he was gone I searched everywhere just like the boy did. I would recommend this book to others because it is a great book and it makes you think. I enjoyed the genre very much. The part in the book that I enjoyed the most was when the dad and the dog went for one last hunt together.

I would give the book Sounder, written by Willam H. Armstrong,a rating of four stars out of five.I liked the compassion that the boy had in his family, and the bible.I liked how hard he worked in the feilds and looked for his dad. I liked how the boy tried hard to read an get an education.I really admired the boy because he lived his life to the fullest,even though his life was full of sad things.I did not give the book the extra star because it had so many sad parts. It was sad that the boy missed having his dad around. There were many more sad things that happened in this great book.

I, over the summer, read a both heartwarming and depressing story about a boy growing up in the harsh south during a time of segregation. He goes through many hard times throughout the course of the story, including when his father gets arrested for stealing to feed his family. His father goes out every night only to come back empty handed. so one day he steals some ham and is put in jail. as they're taking him away Sounder, the family pet, gets shot trying to protect his master. Sounder runs away and eventually dies...this story by William Howard Armstrong made quite an impression on me, and it will do the same for you.

The book Sounder is about the Morgans, a loving and strong family of black sharecroppers in Louisiana in 1933. They face a serious family crisis when the husband/father, Nathan Lee Morgan is convicted of a petty crime and sent to prison camp. After some weeks the wife/mother Rebbecca Morgan sent her oldest child who is about 11 years old to visit his father at the camp.

I give this book four out of five stars because it was a good book but at times it was confusing. The book is a person vs. society because the police arested the dad Natan Lee Morgan.

The novel Sounder, by William Armstrong, depicts a story about a young boy, his family and his dog. The story is set in the early 19th century and most of the events occur in and around the families meager cabin house. The novel opens with a scene depicting the boy (whose name remains unknown throughout the novel) and his father, a struggling sharecropper. The boy's attachment to his family and love for his dog is clear in the early lines of the story.
Soon the families struggle to earn money and survive leads the father to steal a ham in a desperate attempt to put food on the table. The next morning, the police arrest the father. As he is taken away, the boy attempts to hold onto the dog, who is snarling and lunging at the police. As night falls, one of the police officers shoots the dog. He lies, seemingly dead, in the road as the mother quickly ushers her young children inside.
The story continues as the boy searches desperately for his dog. His hope that the dog survived the gunshot turns sour as weeks go by. One day, the dog miraculously reappears, with a wounded shoulder and missing eye. The boy and his mother are astonished to see the dog still alive, and take him back into their home.
The family soon learns about the fate of the father. After being locked up in the town prison, he has been released to do hard labor. The boy searches for his father, sometimes walking miles only to find a long line of laboring men he cannot recognize. After one visit, he stumbles upon a school and is taken in by the head teacher. The boy has a book with him and the teacher reads him part of the story. After this encounter, the boy decides to go away to school in the winters and stay back to help with the harvest in the summers.
The boy continued at the school for several years. One summer when he was home, Sounder came running up to the house, barking wildly. The father followed shortly behind, dragging his leg which had been destroyed when dynamite exploded in a prison quarry. Eventually, his broken body let go, and the father dies. Sounder dies shortly after his master.

Negative aspects:
While Sounder is an engaging novel, some of the language used is simple and may not challenge all students in the upper grades. The vocabulary is not overly difficult, yet might be on the correct level for some students. Lastly, because Sounder was written in 1969 and takes place in a old, country setting, students may have difficulty relating to the characters and making connections to their own lives. However, the themes of family, loss of a loved one (even a pet) and courage will engage students in the story.

I would recommend Sounder to any middle school teacher. The novel is interesting, engaging and generally easy to read. It would be perfect to implement in literature circles or as a whole-class novel, as students could read chapters on their own or at home.

This book was about a black boy about twelve years old. He grows up poor so his dad steals a ham and gets sent to jail. After, it was a hard life but the boy visited him and brought him a cake. He also had a dog Sounder. He was a hunting dog. When the boy's dad came home, half of his body was crushed by a boulder. He died later and Sounder died soon after that. They buried the father at the Meetin' house. Sounder was buried under a jack oak tree. I rate this book a four because there were so many things that happened in this book.

sammer

Sounder was a good book because it was a back in the days. This book is about an African American family. They faced lots of problims like their dad went to jail. Their was a dog in the story who ran away they did not know if their dog was going to come back. The family was very poor and lived in a cabin next to a woods.

I gave Sounder a 4 because it gets people's attention. I think middle school kids should read this book. It gives people a look in the past, and how people used to live. It deals with problems we have to day, If you want to know what happened to the dad and dog read this book.

The boy, his father, Sounder. There once was a boy who lived in a cabin with his father, mother, brother, and sisters. He also had a dog, Sounder. Sounder would always go hunting with his master for food. One day they bought home a ham, and thats when all the trouble began. As you can see, the boy's life was pretty hard, with all the hunting. It was hard in the beginning, and got worse toward the end. I think this book is great. I would give this book four stars out of five. I also think you should give this book a try, and read it!

Poverty! Imprisonment! Racism! The sheer will to survive and see you father again! If any of those topics sparked your attention, you'll love this book! William H. Armstrong's novel, Sounder, is the inspiring tale of a poor, young, black boy from the barely post-slavery south. His dog, Sounder, is shot in the shoulder and runs off as his father is arrested when he tries to steal a ham to feed his gigantic family. Now he must try to find his father so they may finally be reunited and the family can be together again.

This kid is really determined to find his dad--if he's not helping his mom pay for the food his father can no longer bring in or looking for his long lost coon-dog, he's hiking alone from city to city, along railroad tracks or the vast trails of the mighty woods to every prison in th ecounty looking for him. The boy's search for Sounder and Sounder's potential death/return seem to be symbolic of all of this. This book does a great job of showing just what lengths people will go to feed, find, or help their family, especially when times are that rough! It made me think we should be more like that today.

It also showed how different and much more diffucult things were for the blacks of the time, with the poverty they experienced, the terribly hard work they were forced to do just to keep alive, and the pure racism and hatefulness of whites. I really appreciate and respect what they went through much more, now. Please note, however, that Armstrong wrote this book from the perspective of the blacks of the past and hence the dialogue gets a little bit hard to understand at times. You'll really need to think like them to get into the story and enjoy it. If you can get over a little bad grammar, though, and enjoy sad, yet hopeful stories of faith, prayer, and determination to get your family-and your life-back, then this book is for you.

Sometimes, we strive to achieve our goals and reach a point where exhaustion and opposition overwhelm us. We feel too tired to go on. However, if our want to succeed and gain pushes us onward, we persevere. Perseverance eventually brings success. In Sounder, by William H. Armstrong, each character reaches a point of despair and depletion. By showing perseverance, the characters, sooner or later, get through their situation successfully.

As a hard worker in the time subsequent to slavery, the boy in Sounder endured a lonely, fearful, and stressful life. He had to persevere because his family needed money. Their source of meat was scarce, and the boy's family lacked money to buy meat or anything else.

The father, therefore, stole a ham, for he had no other way to feed his family. A sheriff arrested the boy's father and shot his dog, Sounder, to prevent trouble. The shot wounded the dog so badly that he could no longer bark in the way that gave him his name.

Sounder was named after his unusual, sweet bark. It seemed to stretch out and roll in just the right way so that a listener would think someone was singing.

Now the boy had to fend for himself, his mother, younger siblings, and half-dead dog by working in the field and doing chores for white people to gain money.

The boy's father did not come home for a long time, so the boy went after him. After each search, the boy returned unsuccessful but endured and kept on.

The boy journeyed long and far to the prison farms, the jailhouse, and rock quarries to see his father, but he did not find him. Whenever he passed a white person's house, he thought he could feel their eyes staring at him through the curtains. Once, a white man threw a piece of iron at him. This was a blessing, though, because when the boy went to the schoolhouse to wash the cut the iron had caused, he met the schoolteacher who eventually taught him to read.

By the time the father finally returned, the boy was reading and had supported the family pretty well. The father had changed, however. His body had been damaged. He and Sounder had been hurt by the affects of slavery: racism and a system to keep blacks ignorant, poor, and dependant. However, their spirits of perseverance were not destroyed and the boy had hope of a better future because of his perseverance and education.

Through each of William H. Armstrong's characters, we can easily see that perseverance helps us overcome hardships. With perseverance, we can get past our limits into the world beyond.

Souder was a inspiring and plesurable book. It made me feel like I was the boy in the book. This helped me understand what the blacks went through during that time period. Souder was a book about a young boy living in the 1900 hundreds, living in albama and going through the problems that the blacks had during that period. This boy had a dog named sounder who kind of made the book complete. He was the dog that his father hed when he was a child. He was wiser then the boy himeself. The boys father was is slaved at manchines doing work for no money. He hardly ever saw his father. The books shows how the boy and his family strogle through thi time.

Book Review

Have you ever had a dog that you could not live without? Well I read the book Sounder over the summer and it was a very moving book. It had great characters in the book it was always keeping you on the edge of your seat. I enjoyed the book very much the old man in the book steals a ham off of the farm that he is a slave on then the boy's world is turned up side down. The boy and his dog sounder] half too hunt for food for the family to eat since the father is gone. The dog is shot by the sheriff then............

- Paul

Sounder will take children to another time and place, some where far away from what most know today. Because Sounder is so different from children's books I remember, it really kept my attention and was a `kept you wanting to know more' kind of book-even for an adult. This Book deals with some tough ideas I thought; between the poverty, racism, jail, and heartbreak it almost seemed surprising for a children's book but I think it will really open the readers eyes to a different kind of world that existed (and still does). This book takes children stories much deeper from what I would have expected; Sounder is an excellent read for mature children and adults alike.

Sounder, a book by Willam H. Armstrong, is a great book for children ages ten and up. I like Sounder because it tells about how times used to be when blacks were treated poorly. It is a story that touches your heart. The book is about a black family, who are sharecroppers, and have a dog named Sounder who is loved very much by his family. The father is forced to steal for his starving family but is caught and put in jail. I recommend this book for a wonderful reading experience.

Sounder takes place in the 19th century south and is basically about a sharecropper boy who finds hope, dignity, and hardship. The basic theme of the book is racism. This book centers on an unnamed black boy who must grow up fast after his poor sharecropper father is arrested for stealing ham for his hungry family. One of the commonly asked questions is who is Sounder? Well Sounder is the family dog. The boy has a desire to be educated because he wants to be successful when he grows up, and not be a sharecropper like his mother and father. His black family background decreases his chances for better education to where he walks a mile to school everyday because the bus will not pick him up. I would recommend this book to 7th graders and up, or anyone who is interested in racism. I rate this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Sounder Book Review

I liked the book Sounder because it was a strong and interesting story about a young boy from an African American family and his faithful dog. The boy’s father is a sharecropper and his family struggles to survive in the racist south. There was a part I really liked about the boy meeting a teacher. Since the boy did not go to school, the teacher helped him learn to read.
The characters could be real because unfortunately things like this were common in the 19th century south when the story took place. . I really liked this book and I hope you like it too.

I thought the book Sounder was interesting.It kept me guessing about the parts.Like when part of the jail had blowN up. I thought the dad wasn't going to survive.To my suprise he did. Then when he came home half paralized that really suprised me.After all the interesting parts and all the exitement it was good.Although the part I didn't like was when both Sounder and his master died.They could at least lived for anothor year together.Besides that I really liked the book.

The book I read was called Sounder it was written by William H. Armstrong it was published in 1969. I think you should read this book because it's good and sad because something happens to the dog. I would give this book a 10 because in the book it shows that you should not treat people differnt just because they are a different color. My favorite part in the book was in the end when the dad came back home to his family and someday else comes back home too.

This book was absolutly boring! I am an extreme dog lover, so I've read a lot of books. When my friend gave me this book, I was very excited, and was ready to start reading it. When I got around the end of the first chapter, I realized it wasn't at all anything I ever expected. I think this book had a poor beginning, middle and end. It isn't anything you might think it is, and puts you to sleep. But, then again, that is my opinion.Anyway, if someone were to get a really good book, they should buy Stone Fox, Julies Wolf Pack, Old Yeller, or Wild at Heart: Fight for Life.

Sounder
By: William H. Armstrong
Reviewed by: W. ...
Period: 4
This book is about an African American boy in the 19th century. His father is a sharecropper and he struggles to feed his family. One day some deputies come and arrest his father and shoot Sounder, the dog. The boy searches for his dog and when he finally finds Sounder as a crippled dog, he goes out to fine his father. He finally finds his father and gets and education.
I liked the book because it shows the real world. "Part of the cake fell to the floor; it was only a box of crumbs now. The man swore again and made the boy pick up the crmbs from the floor." "The deputy who wasn't holding the reins turned on the seat, aimed his shotgun at the dog jumping at the side of the wagon, and fired." It shows that life is unfair and we just have to deal with it.
I dislikes the book because it didn't really have much to do with it's title, Sounder. Sounder is a dog, and the only think that happens to the dog is that his ear and his leg is missing. Sounder also howls a lot. Other than that, there was no point of having Sounder.
My favorite part of the book was at the end when it talks about life and what it really is. It says, "Only the unwise think that what has changed is dead." It also says that history repeats itself. Throughout the book, the boy's mom keeps on singing the song that gives the boy inspiration to find his dog and his dad.

Sounder, by William H. Armstrong, wasn't really what I expeced. I figured it would be more like the book Old Yeller, but it was alright. I thoguht that maybe it would be more interesting, i personally thought it was boring for the most part but in some cases I could stay interested. It is more of a lower reading level than what I expected. I would recomend this book mainly to my younger brother which is 12.
The plot is about a younger boy who is living through the times when blacks were discriminated against. The boy really didn't have very much, but what he had he was grateful for. His dad had stolen food to feed his family and got caught and the rest of the story was about the boy trying to find his dad.
The book was lacking an emotional reaction. None of the characters ever really reacted to much to things that happened throughout the book. When the boys father was being taked away the mother just kind of stood there and went back inside to take care of the kids. Or when the boy got his hand cut really bad by the security guard he really didn't even do too much. He cried and everything but he never yelled or screamed like a person would if they cut their hand as bad as it was described.
I would recommend this book to younger kids, not an older age range of people because it is easy too lose interest and too easy to read. There is no challenge.

( Tracey Lockhart)Sounder was an interesting, heart-touching book. The book goes back in time about a family who had a dog named Sounder and sadly when the father is being taken away by the sheriff the dog gets shot an runs off. The mother says he has run off to die. I would recommend this book to fifth-eighth graders because only they can see the care and worry in this book. The author of this wounderful book is William H. Armstrong

Sounder is about a dog and his African American owner. Throught this book Sounder gets badly hurt a number of times. The boy is suffering poverty while his dad is in jail. This book is quite sad, especially when Sounder louses his ear. Towards the end of the story something bad happens!

I hope you will enjoy this heart-breaking book as much as I do. Read this book to see how it ends!!!

My opnion of this book is that it is a heart breaking book about a wonderful dog. My favorite part is the ending when everythig comes together. I hope you will like this part too!