The Sixth Sense
And Other Stories
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
From award-winning author Jessie Haas, nine interconnected tales about kids and their love of animals
In "The Wake," fifteen-year-old Kris tries to comfort her great-aunt Mil, who is grief stricken over the death of Puttins, her old cat and longtime companion. With her grave, golden-brown eyes and long, graceful paws, "The Greyhound" is almost human . . . and Kris's friend Phillip is determined to save this special, endangered dog. Even if her father doesn't understand her love of animals, Kris realizes that your "Extended Family" can be as big as you want it to be, including cherished pets and not just your (sometimes unlovable) blood ties. "Horse Man" is James MacLiesh, who believes he was "bred to ride," just as horses were "bred to be ridden." And in the title story, James is torn between loyalty to his faithful horse Robbie and his dreams of glory with a sleek, majestic steed named Avatar. Everything changes when horse and rider get lost and James has to depend on Robbie, whose ancient animal understanding lights the trail home and leads them to a surprising destination.
These and the other stories in this collection illuminate the powerful, enduring bond between animals and people.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This collection of short stories is arch and populated with over-analytical, talky teenagers. James, with his love of horses, and Kris, who fights with her father constantly over the value of animals as pets, are the main characters in most of the stories. The collection opens when Kris finds her Aunt Mil grief-stricken over the death of a longtime feline companion. The relationship between the girl and her elderly aunt is exquisitely drawn, but unlike the poetic beauty of Cynthia Rylant's Every Living Thing (a book that, like this one, thematically draws on the link between people and animals), these stories try to spell everything out. Much of Kris's dialogue sounds like she's repeating a textbook (which would be all right, since she is studying animal behavior) but it is too stiff for real conversation. In general, the book will please readers who are animal-lovers and who are also trying to articulate their concerns for four-legged friends. Others may be put off by the constant philosophizing and too-ready answers of all the players. Ages 12-up.
