A Patch in the Wilderland - Valerie Temple

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Résumé :
Creatures from the prairie, the woodlands, the skies, river, cliffs and mountains seemed to echo back. It was like they were just given voice to sing by the boy who sing-talks with the animals. A Patch in the Wilderland is told by a ten year old boy named Sam. Sam has always been the one in charge of watching Mudsy ever since he can remember. Being in the same grade, Sam resents Mudsy and is embarrassed by the the things he does. In a typical dysfunctional family, you would think Mudsy would fit right in but the family's biggest problem is Mudsy, or so they would have you think. The only thing Mudsy is guilty of is his claim that he can sing-talk with the animals. For this and his odd behavior he is bullied and made fun of by his brothers and their friends in the Scouts. But when Mudsy searches for the rare White Foot Fox that the university is looking for, his father tells him he will let him join the Scouts if he can capture the fox and bring in the reward money. Mudsy is even allowed to go to the Boy Scout Jamboree. But when his father and all the boys from Troop #34 are asked to leave the jamboree, Mudsy is blamed. Sam and his brothers are out for revenge. After weeks of planning, the brother's revenge has a crucial change of events. What happens next is an enchanting winter journey that can only be told in vivid detail by Sam. ?

Biographie:
When Valerie Temple discovered foxes close to her childhood home in Pueblo, Colorado, she began observing these mystical creatures and developing a relationship with them through the lens of a camera, her sketches, songs and stories.On the dirt road where she lived in the 1950s, there was prairie almost as far as you could see. The family home was not too far away from Dry Creek (now called Wild Horse Creek) close to where her character Hilda lived in her shanty.The abandoned well where Sam and his brothers set a trap for Mudsy is still there today close to the creek hidden by saltbush. When it rains the road leading to the well makes for some great mud puddles like the one Mudsy played in and the mysterious girl with long white hair made clay figures in.Most of the settings in the story are taken from Pueblo landmarks, altered and slightly rearranged to fit the story. When growing up as a child, Temple and other children use to take the same paths, play on the same hills and hide in the same secret places as the foxes. These shared and explored experiences have a special connection for her making the fox her Spirit Animal.