Upchuck And The Rotten Willy (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

Wallace, Bill

ISBN 10: 0613089928 ISBN 13: 9780613089920

Publisher: Turtleback Books, 1998

Synopsis

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. His happy life disintegrating when his human goes to college and his best friend moves away, Chuck the cat ventures farther and farther into the neighborhood and meets Rotten Willy, a monster-sized and big-hearted dog.

About this title

About the Author

Bill Wallace grew up in Oklahoma. Along with riding their horses, he and his friends enjoyed campouts and fishing trips. Toasting marshmallows, telling ghost stories to scare one another, and catching fish was always fun.
One of the most memorable trips took place on the far side of Lake Lawtonka, at the base of Mt. Scott. He and his best friend, Gary, spent the day shooting shad with bow and arrows, cutting bank poles, and getting ready to go when their dads got home from work.
Although there was no "monster" in Lake Lawtonka, one night there was a "sneak attack" by a rather large catfish tail. Checking the bank poles was not nearly as fun or "free" after that point, but it was the inspiration for this story.
Bill Wallace has won nineteen children's state awards and been awarded the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award for Children's Literature from the Oklahoma Center for the Book.

From Kirkus Reviews

From Wallace (True Friends, 1994, etc.), a tale of interspecies friendship. Chuck the cat is lonely. His best friend, Tom, has moved away with his owners; another friend, Louie, was killed by a car; and Chuck's owner has gone off to college. Trapped on a tree branch for two days and nights by the poodles who moved into Tom's house, he is rescued by a kind-hearted rottweiler, Willy, who feeds and warms him before sending him back home. This tale, warmed by the patience of Willy, who perseveres in the face of feline prejudice, is told completely from the animals' perspective: They understand human language but can't read it or speak it. With the exception of Willy, it is not a particularly nice world; cats torment dogs, dogs--in turn--attempt to do cats in, cars come out of the ether to crumple the unwary, grudges hold, humans behave in inexplicable ways, and loneliness is bitter. As it should, friendship overcomes all; despite the unnecessarily pandering title, the book has a gentle message that comes through without treacle. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 8-12) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Turtleback Books
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0613089928
• ISBN 13: 9780613089920
• Binding: School & Library Binding
• Illustrator: Slonim David
• Number of pages: 112