Northbounders by Karen Lord Rutter

Last Saturday I traveled to what is now my absolute favorite bookstore, The Story Shop in Madison, Georgia. The Story Shop is an independent children's bookstore filled with the creativity and magic of stories. I chose that particular Saturday because author Karen Rutter was performing an author visit there. After stepping through the wardrobe (think C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), I entered the story time room where Mrs. Rutter was waiting to get started.

Northbounders is Karen Rutter's first book. She used to be a teacher and a principal! The book was inspired by her son David's hike of the Appalachian Trail. For those of you who don't know, the Appalachian Trail is a 2,186-mile trail that runs from north Georgia to Maine. What makes her story even more interesting is that David's hiking partner was the family's 10-year-old golden retriever Copper, and Mrs. Rutter tells the tale from Copper's point of view!

I recommend the book for those upper grade students who appreciate nature, love animals, and enjoy reading nonfiction. Oh, I almost forgot; Mrs. Rutter accepted my invitation to visit our school this year!

Mrs. N.