Sounder

Title: Sounder
1970 Newbery Winner
Author: William H. Armstrong
Published: 1969
Plot Summary: This is a story about an African American sharecropper family living in the rural south during the Depression era. In response to the despair of their poverty, the father steals food to feed his family and is consequentially jailed. The boy, relying on the comfort of his dog, goes on a quest to find his father.
Main Characters: The boy, Sounder, mother, father
Theme(s): the importance of education for social mobility
Reader's Response: Readers will be forced to challenge notions of right and wrong and explore how external circumstances such as poverty and education may inform a person's decisions
Teaching Idea: Using different images (photos, music, text, art work) have students create a media presentation (PowerPoint, Flickr, Google) about what the boy learned from each character in the story eg mother, father, teacher, Sounder
Grade Level: 4 - 6
Reading Level (Lexile): 900