Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow

Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow. Candlewick Press, 2023. 9781536231113  
Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 5+
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Realistic fiction
What did you like about the book? Sixteen-year-old Ian (Dorian Gray Henry) lives with his mother in a run-down house in rural Vermont. His father deserted them some years back. His mother has had various employment but has recently become a drug addict making life even harder for Ian with scarcely any money to live on. When a really big dog (Irish wolfhound/ Mastiff?) shows up in his backyard, he knows he must keep it. He makes it a bed in the shed and manages to feed it, now Gather- food from the school cafeteria that kids are discarding.  When his mother overdoses, ending up in the hospital, she manages to turn her life around upon return. She begins working in a small restaurant in the town. Ian loves the woods and everything in and about it.  Where he lives had once been a 300-acre farm managed by his family for generations but now only ten acres remain. He is incredibly adept at improvising and repairing nearly everything.  He gets some odd jobs and things are going pretty well until he and his mother discover that $12000 is owed in back taxes on their property – which were to have been paid by his father and his grandmother. He comes home from school to find his mother dead from an overdose. His whole world is falling apart -except for Gather who has become a true friend. With his mother gone, it is decided that he must move down to Tennessee to live with his father, a man he has not seen in years who is now re-married. He will only go if his father will let him keep Gather. Nearly to his father’s house, he learns from his father’s friend who is driving him, that his father will not allow the dog. He and Gather escape the car and live off the land for three weeks before finally meeting up with a caring teacher who takes him back home where his grandmother is now living. Ian is a completely developed character as is everyone else in the story, even minor characters.  His teacher, The Sharpe, his guidance counselor and the nurse at his school, along with other adults realise how unique Ian is and care for him.
I could not put this book down and rank it with one of the best books I have read.
Anything you did not like about the book? No.
To whom would you recommend this book? Teens who want to be inspired by an incredibly interesting character in a well-written story that moves very quickly will be a good audience for this book.
Who should buy this book? Public and high school libraries
Where would you shelve it? YA fiction
Should we (librarians) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? Yes.
Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City: Katrina Yurenka, Retired Librarian, Contributor, Youth Services Book Review
Date of Review:  October 6, 2023