The Journey of Little Charlie, by Christopher Paul Curtis

As a pug, I read a lot of books. I'm home most weekdays, lounging in my dog bed, in my dog kennel, with only the occasional outside noise to bark at - other dogs barking, the mail person, a UPS truck...you know. So, I read a lot of books, and keep this blog. Now, a lot of the books I read are pretty good, and only occasionally is there a stinker thrown in. But mostly the books are pretty good. Then, sometimes, a book is better than pretty good. It is really good. I know the difference when hours or days or weeks after I finish a story the characters and plot are still mulling around in my mind. Yep, dogs have minds. Sometimes, I don't "mind", but I always have my mind! Anyway, The Journey of Little Charlie has a fairly unattractive cover, and even though author Curtis is really good - winner of the Newbery for Bud Not Buddy and The Watsons Go To Birmingham, 1963 - the cover made me not read this for quite a while after it was released.

Now, I'm happy to say, I have read it. And it's better than just pretty good! The characters are still dancing around in my brain, and as soon as I finished I was happy to have read this story, and wished it had continued. Not continued like a series, just that I didn't have to leave the characters behind. You know, "the end".

This is realistic and historical fiction. It's a story about a boy from South Carolina during slave times who finds himself accompanying a slave owner's devil, for lack of another description, to recapture two adult runaway slaves from 10 years past. This journey, Charlie's journey, takes him to Detroit, Michigan, and into Canada, where blacks are free and the community supports them staying that way. The entire story doesn't take place over more than a few weeks time, but the storytelling is so rich and deep that you feel like you are Charlie on this journey.

A great story, and I'm sorry I haven't kept up with Curtis's other recent books...I will do so now and recommend you do the same! 5 paws!