Edgar Sawtelle

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

This is a must read for dog lovers. Before you fret and think this is reminiscent of Old Yeller and will make you cry, the animals are okay! 

The Sawtelles raise their own breed of dogs on their farm in Wisconsin. Gar and Trudy love the dogs, but eventually want to have children of their own. After struggling with pregnancies, little Edgar Sawtelle is born mute. [Let me stop here a minute. Because up until now I was kind of floating along in the book trying to decide if it was going to be worth 560 pages of my time. I've got a stack of books waiting for me, I need to use my time wisely here. Thank goodness little Almondine takes the lead at this point.] Almondine is one of Trudy and Gar's dogs who actually lives in the house instead of the barn. She has been trying to find her place in the world, and when she notices baby Edgar vying for his parents' attention, she knows exactly what she must do. She becomes his voice. Almondine is as much a part of Edgar as she is herself.

Skip a few years to an adolescent Edgar. He has learned to sign; his signs are part ASL, part Edgar's version. Not only does he sign with his parents, he communicates with the dogs in this manner. Edgar is excited to learn that he is going to raise his own litter of pups. While training one day, his father suffers an attack, and a voiceless Edgar is unable to help him.

Edgar and Trudy wallow through their days, and Uncle Claude comes back into the picture (much to Edgar's dismay). After an unthinkable turn of events, Edgar flees into the woods with three of his young dogs.  They must survive in the wilderness while trying to make their way to Canada. Edgar eventually needs to decide if he will return to Almondine, his mother, and unknown truths at home, or if he will stay away for good.

This book is a fine piece of drama. Though it is not your typical mystery, there is a one within the plot. The author pays attention to details, creating a story with rich settings and characters. It's not a book that you can skip a page and still be okay with what's going on--you really need to read the words to grasp the story. I liked it because it is a different sort of coming of age story. After reading the book, I found that it was supposed to be a modern retelling of Hamlet, and I guess I can see similarities between the two works. However, I wouldn't go as far as to say it's a retelling of that story, but rather a new story with "Hamlet-esque" features. 

I do wish, however, that I could see a picture of the fictional Sawtelle dog. At first, I imagined Almondine to be something along the lines of a greyhound. But then as the book went on, I thought the Sawtelle dogs were supposed to be similar to German Shepherds. Does anyone have an opinion on this?

Overall, a good story. If I could go back and do it over again, I would focus my attention on this one, and not be reading three others at the same time. So take that into consideration before you pick it up.

Target Age Range: Older Teens - Adults