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    Rascal
    Rascal
    Rascal
    Audiobook4 hours

    Rascal

    Written by Sterling North

    Narrated by Ed Sala

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    In 1918 Wisconsin, 11-year-old Sterling North has an almost perfect life. He keeps skunks in the backyard, goes everywhere with his enormous Saint Bernard, and is building a canoe in the living room. The only trouble is life gets a little lonely for him and his father since his mother died. While scouting around the woods one afternoon, he discovers an abandoned, month-old raccoon. Afraid the kit will die on its own, he takes it home to join his menagerie. Soon Sterling and the mischievous raccoon Rascal are sharing one adventure after another, swimming, fishing, and camping. Theirs is an unforgettable friendship-until everything suddenly changes one warm spring day. In this heart-warming classic story, the author shares his irresistible childhood during a simpler time and introduces youngsters to his real-life pals. Sterling and the playful Rascal spring vividly from the pages with narrator Ed Sala's sense of fun and drama.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 20, 2009
    ISBN9781440730610
    Rascal

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    Reviews for Rascal

    4/5

    312 ratings14 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 5/5
      Amazing great interesting wondering interesting suspicious great blah blah blah
    • 4/5
      It was a cute story based on a boy who had a raccoon as a pet. I loved the characters. -13 yr old girl

      I loved the way the author described things with such detail. Classic! -The Mom
    • 5/5
      Fantastic story for children - about life in the early 1900s in Wisconsin. The author does a wonderful job - I have shared this story with each of my kiddos - don’t miss this one!
    • 5/5
      Sterling North recalls the year of 1918-19 when he raised a raccoon kit called Rascal at the age of 11. In many ways it was a simpler time, and despite the fact that his brother was away at war and his mother had died four years previous, the story has more than a touch of nostalgia as Sterling pretty much has the run of the place while his father works or leaves on business trips. He's building a canoe, having adventures with his animal friends - including a crow and a dog named Wowser, in addition to Rascal - dealing with school bullies, and going to the local fair.I didn't really know what to expect when I picked up this title, working my way haphazardly through all the Newbery Award and Honor books. I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun this was to read as an older Sterling reminisces about one glorious year and contemplates the changing times of his community and the world at large. Some older children's books don't age well, but this one has a lot of charm and lasting appeal.
    • 4/5
      Although excellent, this one seemed an odd selection for a Newbery Honor. Rascal is a memoir, not a novel. It is also more of a paean to nature and an old fashioned rustic way of life than it is a story. The writing is beautiful in a poetic way. It's not that today's 12-year-old wouldn't understand what they were reading in this book... but I don't think many 12-year-olds could appreciate the beauty of every sentence, or the value of a book in which plot isn't particularly relevant.Sterling North finds a baby raccoon when he is 12 years old, and like so many other wild animals in his past, he takes it home to keep as a pet. His mother is dead, and he is the only child of an indulging and permissive father, who even takes weeks long business trips, leaving Sterling at home on his own.The time period is World War I. Sterling has an older brother serving in France, but his Summer and fall are all wrapped around Rascal, the raccoon he has brought home. Most episodes are about the raccoon, but in others, Rascal is just a player in a larger story about Sterling's childhood in the small town upper mid-west. It's a lovely book. My suspicion however, is that only the very brightest, or most nature-loving of today's adolescents will appreciate it.
    • 4/5
      just starting to read this book. I have never read it before but I have seen the movie. the movie was good
      this is also a true story
    • 5/5
      This is a beautifully poignant book that tells the story of a very special year in the life of the author when he was young. Of how with no mother and a family that was there but not there how he found something to keep him moving forth. And yet at the same time as we all learn while growing up sometimes it is those that we love that we have to make the hardest decisions for that will ultimately affect us in the end. The author does a beautiful job in explaining his world to the reader so much that his aunt was right. He catches the moment just as he had seen it - the bright colors, the wonders of the world around him, the emotions that ran wild, the challenges, the pain and the love. He brings you so much into the world that there is no room for imagination since you right there with him - face into the wind, banded tail flowing out behind you. What else makes this book so sweetly sad is the fact that even though we hear about what it took to raise Rascal it is also about a tender moment in the history of the United States. You see a country that is on the edge of moving forward and yet of being blissfully stuck in time - a world that is right the way it but still facing the destructive change of its innocence. This is so truthfully given with the mentions of progress and the places the author casually mentions as no longer existing as well as the joy of shooting passenger pigeons by the bushel although there are no more around. If you want a book that will take you back, a book that will have you sighing and remembering back when you were young truly if you are of the older generations this is it. Rascal will enter your life as he did Sterling and once he does he won't ever release your heart again.
    • 5/5
      A classic adventure for animal lovers of all ages, especially those young rascals who love to explore the outdoors. The writing is easy for younger readers to follow and the plot is enjoyable enough for parents to share as a chapter story at bedtime, planting the seed for dreams of the wilderness and animal fun through the evening. This story will emphasize the need to care for an animal in an all around way, incorporating natural habitat and instinct with a desire to bond with their human companion, but it also reminds us that there are times when our wild friends need to return to a life on their own. The theme may be a common one among books where wild animals are adopted as pets, but I can't imagine a more enjoyable read, or a story that better deserves the Newbery Honor. Every library should have this on their shelves.
    • 5/5
      This coming-of-age tale is the story of the author’s own adventures as a young boy who adopts a mischievous raccoon, appropriately named Rascal. A Newbery Honor book, Rascal is a great adventure for young readers interested in wildlife and the outdoors. Sterling is doing his best to keep the baby raccoon in check, but Rascal seems determined to live up to his name, and it soon becomes apparent that the living arrangement cannot last. Originally published in 1963, Rascal is timeless for its lessons on friendship, growing up, and letting go. Set during the years of World War I, the memoir is also a moving account of a much different time in American history. North’s superb writing style and the authenticity of the story ensure that Rascal will continue to be a hit for generations of young readers. Includes illustrations. For ages 9-12. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Things are pretty quiet in rural Wisconsin in 1917, unless, that is, you are eleven-year-old Sterling North. An avid naturalist, Sterling raises a variety of unusual pets: Poe, the crow, two skunks, a drooling St. Bernard named Wowzer, and assorted cats. His inseparable best friend, though, is Rascal, a young raccoon. Sterling relates the tales of his and Rascal's misadventures over the course of a year. From the unfinished canoe in the living room to the fenced off Christmas tree, life in the North household is unconventional, but warm and radiating that sense of childhood innocence in nature that often feels absent in today's less rural world. I listened to the audio of this book with my eight-year-old daughter, and she immediately began trying to tame a crow (raccoons being verboten near our chickens). Jim Weiss has a rich, warm voice and narrates the story beautifully. I think I actually preferred listening to this one rather than reading it, although it's been many years since I first read it. My only reservation with the book is the manner in which Sterling acquires Rascal; but the ending compensates. Well-deserving of the Newbery Honor.
    • 5/5
      Rascal is such an amazing book, at the beginning it's adventurous at the middle it's funny and at the end it's sad! Maureen Fergus is like a diamond you have to expose her to the world then let her shine!
    • 4/5
      Sterling North does an outstanding job of making the reader feel like they are right there. The imagery and sensory detail included in this book will keep every reader turning pages.This book would be a great way to introduce literary devices to students. Students can discuss terms such as sensory details together and look for examples within the text.
    • 3/5
      Rascal is a raccoon who befriends a young Sterling North. Together with Sterling's indulgent father, the raccoon and boy traverse the wilds of Wisconsin, camp near lakes, and watch wild deer and mink. It's a small book that draws beautiful pictures of life in America during the latter part of World War I.
    • 5/5
      An eleven year old boy, Sterling, lived in the early 1900's. He loved hunting, fishing, and the outdoors. He comes across a raccoon and her babies one day. He decides to keep a baby raccoon for himself. Sterling named his newest pet Rascal. Rascal makes many friends, a dog, a horse, many people, as well as some enemies like Sterling's pet crow and their neighbor. Sterling and Rascal embark on many adventures together, but Rascal gets into trouble by stealing food from neighbors' farms. Eventually, Sterling has to put a collar and leash on his best friend as well as keep him locked up in a cage. As winter turned into spring, Rascal turned into a young virile male raccoon. Sterling realizes that for the safety of his best friend and for the happiness of the raccoon he must let him go.The author uses plenty of imagery and detail about the scenery. I could almost feel like I was actually there. It was heart warming reading about the wonderful friendship that develops between Sterling and Rascal. It almost makes me want to get a pet raccoon as well. There is one part near the end of the book where Sterling mentions how he is in a wheelchair for one winter. That is all it says. It left me very curios as to why he ended up in a wheelchair. The end of the story is the same way, it left me wanting to read more. Overall, I thought it was an excellent book.This would be a good story to read to a classroom to get students interested in books. The students would most likely enjoy the adventures that Sterling has as well as the trouble that Rascal gets into. After the story I could suggest several other books for further reading by the students. Students could also do a writing project. They could write their own version of what they think might happen next. There is not a right or wrong answer. It will let them use their imagination and practice writing.