Rascal: A Dog and His Boy

Leaving his crowded canine farm to start a new life with a boy, an enthusiastic beagle shares wonderful forays into the Louisiana bayou, where he chases wild game and snaps up crawfish before his young human becomes stuck on a rotted bridge.

KEN WELLS grew up on the banks of Bayou Black, in south Louisiana’s Cajun country, on a farm where he and his five brothers romped with a dozen or so mostly adopted dogs, including a spectacular beagle named Tootie and a goodly number of barn cats. For a while, his family even kept a pet monkey.
Wells, a career journalist, is the author of six previous books, including Meely LaBauve, a coming-of-age story that was an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults. Wells lives in New York City with his wife, Lisa Newmark. They have two grown daughters, Sara and Rebecca.
From the Hardcover edition.