The Underneath
Appelt, Kathi
Hunter Dittman
Wednesday, March 5th
7-2
Puck
Sabine
Grandmother Moccasin
Night Song
Setting
Summary
In my story, a cat who has been forgotten by her owners, wanders into a dark forest and follows the lonely howl of a hound. When she gets there she knows this is where she and her unborn babies will stay.
Meanwhile, a snake who has been trapped in a jar underground for more than a thousand years knows her time will come soon. Her story is she wondered into a dark swamp and stayed there, but she was very lonely. One day her daughter found her and they loved each other very much. One day, her daughter, Night Song, fell in love with a hawk and they both morphed into humans and had a baby. Grandmother was furious. She made Night Song turn back into a snake, so she Night Song died of a broken heart. The man and daughter both turned back into birds, but not before Hawk Man fought Grandmother and put her in a jar and buried her, she did not die though.
The man that lived above the hound and cats killed the mother cat and then he took the hound to use as alligator bait. The two cats followed, but the alligator ended up eating the man! Grandmother's jar finally rose out of the ground and she came face to face with the hound (who was chained to the tree) and the cats. Instead of eating them, she understood their love for one another and just bit the chain and set them free. She had been shot by the man when the alligator was attacking him, so she crawled high into the tree and passed away. The cats and the hound went away from the titling house and lived a free, happy, loving life together.
The Newberry Medal Award
Kathi Appelt (author)
My Thoughts
I think the reason this is an award-winning book is because she took two very different stories and hooked them together in an intricate way. She showed anyone who read this book the true meaning of love.
In my opinion, I do think this story fits the criteria. To get this award, your book has to be the most distinguished (American) children's book published in the previous year. I thought the book was very distinguished, and definitely fit for children. This was a very good book and a touching story.