Sounder is a young adult novel by William H. Armstrong, published in 1969. It is the story of an African-American boy living with his sharecropper family. Although the family's difficulties increase when the father is imprisoned for stealing a ham from work, the boy still hungers for an education. Sounder, the dog's name, is the only character name used in the book. The author refers to the various characters by their relationship or their role in the story. The setting is also ambiguous. The author notes prisoners were hauled in "mule-drawn wagons", and the mention of chain gangs places an upper limit to the story of 1955 when the practice ended. The boy hears his father may be in Bartow and later Gilmer counties, but the author does not specify where the boy lives. Sounder won the Newbery Award in 1970 and was made into a major motion picture in 1972.
| Author | William H. Armstrong |
| Illustrator | James Barkley |
| Publisher | Harper & Row |
| Followed by | Sour Land |
About Sounder
A family of poor sharecroppers in the Great Depression-era American South enlist the help of their hunting dog to find food. The father of the family is eventually caught stealing, and ends up in jail, leaving his family high and dry. The film was directed by Martin Ritt.
Achievement of Sounder
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
Top Facts You Did Not Know About Sounder
Novels set in Georgia (U.S. state).. Newbery Medal-winning works.. Harper & Row books.
