Where the Red Fern Grows (ISBN 044022814X) is a 1961 novel by American author Wilson Rawls about a boy who acquires and trains two Redbone Coonhound hunting dogs. It has twice been made into a film, in 1974 starring Stewart Peterson and in 2003 starring Joseph Ashton, Dabney Coleman, Ned Beatty, and Dave Matthews.

Plot summary

The opening scene of the novel finds the main character, Billy Coleman, stumbling across a group of dogs fighting. He takes one of them home to nurse his wounds. While caring for the dog, Billy recalls a story about two Indians who died in a snow storm, and how a red fern grew over the spot where they died, which was believed to have been planted by an angel. The remainder of the story is a flashback from his childhood.

Billy's sole desire is to have a pair of hounds. Although his parents cannot afford them, he struggles to save money, doing odd jobs. After two years he has earned enough; his grandfather orders the dogs, which Billy names Old Dan and Little Ann.

They go raccoon hunting and capture 'coons every night. One of the Pritchard boys, Rubin, is killed when Billy and his grandpa accept a bet from his brother Rainie to catch the legendary ghost 'coon. Billy is entered in a championship racoon hunt. Little Ann goes to a beauty contest and wins and at the end; Billy has to find the dogs and his Grandpa while it is sleeting. They win the hunt, receiving about $300. Since they have the money they are moving into town, which is named Tulsa, OK. Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann go hunting every night while they can. They encounter a mountain lion (devil cat of the Ozarks), which the dogs fight to protect Billy. Old Dan receives a gash across the stomach, and bleeds to death at their home. With her companion gone, Little Ann loses her will to live, and she dies lying by his grave. A sacred red fern grew over both their graves. After the championship hunt's jackpot and selling all his coon skins, Billy's family finally has enough money to move to town.

1961 novels | American novels | Children's books | 1974 films 2003 films