- coming-of-age story of teen boy who learns survival skills, nature stewardship, and how to responsibly make difficult decisions
- endearing relationship with father who guides him in battles of the elements, the finer points of hunting, how to navigate grief, and more
- convo: man thinks his lack of childhood was because his father was a preacher, mentions losing many babies, many hunting scenes with details of how each part is used, occasional drunkenness by non-main characters, smoking/tobacco, a lady says why she doesn’t want to go to heaven, a couple deaths of beloved characters, several mentions of a woman’s large size, mentions people being naked a few times (no descriptions), young men have a serious physical fight over a girl
- language: injuns x3, blasted x5, G*d (as a swear) x6, L*rd (swear) x2, Hell x5, bitch (female dog) x1, damn x2
Type: novel
Ages: 12+
Author: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
If I had to live in the scrub of rural Florida 150 years ago, I hope I’d have a father like Penny (but with a biblical faith). Even as he dealt with many physical issues, he taught his son (the main character), Jody, so much about life–both directly with words and indirectly by his actions.
Jody is the first-person narrator of this story, and Rawlings does a phenomenal job at making us feel those big teen-year feelings. As the only child (who survived), his life has been a pretty quiet one until now. He begins to accompany his father on more hunts, honing his accuracy and also navigating the disturbing feelings of hurting animals. His father understands this and helps him see the necessity of hunting. They are very careful to only kill what they need to survive.
Events are intertwined with the nearest family, the Forresters, who have several older children and live a much louder life. Jody spends more time with them and mentally contrasts some of their doings with his family’s.
Jody’s mother is a complicated character. Neighbors and acquaintances consider her a difficult woman, hard to please. Yet, I felt for her. She truly loves her family and has to manage a household with extreme diligence due to their poverty. She can be gruff in manner, but readers also get an occasional glimpse of the kindness and sensitivity below the exterior.
Why, Sydney, you have written a long review and still haven’t mentioned a deer! Ha, yes, Jody eventually gets his beloved fawn the title refers to…it takes over 40% of the story to get there, though! The orphaned fawn is the boy’s first real pet, and he quickly becomes part of the family–even sleeping inside the house, can you imagine? It thrives and grows and eventually accompanies them on hunts, bounding around and delighting Jody with every step.
Toward the end of the book, Jody is forced to make some extremely difficult decisions. It’s truly the moment he passes from childhood to manhood and is sure to tug on your heart. There is an undertone of sadness throughout the story which becomes stronger toward the end. Growing up isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, but Jody accepts it and commits to hard work and responsible living.
I’m sure I’ve lost most of you, as this is much longer than my typical reviews (!)…but one more thing. Rawlings has truly presented the world with a beautiful piece of literature. It gives readers from all generations a glimpse into a worldview not necessarily their own and draws us all together as fellow humans. Life is hard. For most all of us. What is your kind of hard? Definitely see if Jody’s life mimics your own in places. I recommend The Yearling for ages 12 and up!