Rascal, by Sterling North

A good book to read!

If you have ever thought about having a wild animal for a pet, you might like to read this novel about an 11 year old boy who had a pet raccoon. The story takes place in Wisconsin during World War I. The boy in the story is the author, Sterling North, and he really did have a pet raccoon and a canoe he built in his living room.

We used to leave cat food on our front porch, and when we were reading this book, we saw raccoons eating there at night. We don’t leave cat food out overnight anymore, since our neighbor said she saw a mountain lion on our porch in the middle of the night.

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Editor note:

Sterling North went on to enjoy wildlife and wrote “Raccoons are the Smartest People,” with photos of raccoons who visited his backyard patio. “Rascal” takes place on the Brule River, and we lived near there and Mr. Bushy canoed down the Brule. 

Mrs Bushy, Happy Camp News Editor