A School Library Journal Top 100 Childrens Novel
An NPR Must-Read for Kids

Billy has long dreamt of owning not one^ but two^ dogs. So when he’s finally able to save up enough money for two pups to call his own — Old Dan and Little Ann — he’s ecstatic. It doesn’t matter that times are tough; together they’ll roam the hills of the Ozarks.

Soon Billy and his hounds become the finest hunting team in the valley. Stories of their great achievements spread throughout the region^ and the combination of Old Dan’s brawn^ Little Ann’s brains^ and Billy’s sheer will seems unbeatable. But tragedy awaits these determined hunters — now friends — and Billy learns that hope can grow out of despair^ and that the seeds of the future can come from the scars of the past.