The Underneath

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Appelt, K., and D. Small. The underneath. Atheneum, 2008.

ISBN 978-1416950585

2. Evaluation

        I must admit, when I was younger, I loved stories about animals. However, as I got older, I began to avoid them like the plague. When I read down our suggested reading list, I scoffed at the inclusion of this book. When I went to the library to pick my books and read on the back cover “A novel like this only comes around every few decades," I must admit I did roll my eyes. But, I have been trying to pick books that may be outside my personal preference box for this class and boy am I ever glad I did!

My personal opinion of The Underneath is that it is a beautiful, lyrical story that has a lot of darkness in it, but is ultimately illuminating in its gift of insights into life. Though the central characters are animals, their experiences mimic life and the portrayal is credible and true. This is a remarkable story that will appeal to older children and adults.

It involves an abandoned mother cat who seeks shelter and has her kittens with an old hound dog living, chained, beneath an old cabin occupied by a cruel and sadistic swampbilly. Disaster soon strikes the unlikely family and they must learn to cope with loss and learn there is light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how dark it may seem.But there is a secondary story along with this. The Underneath tells two tales in one, each taking 1,000 years in between one another. This subplot involves a old water moccasin, originally a Lamia, trapped in a giant, clay jar beneath a pine tree, her friend the gigantic Alligator King, and her bitter resentment over her shapeshifting daughter leaving her for a half-hawk man.

Based on the main plot of the novel I was not expecting this kind of twist on a work of this genre and, when Grandmother Moccasin came up, I was confused and did know what to make of this unanticipated twist. It took me some time to get used to the two stories rocking back and forth between one another, but I did and when I did I could barely stand to close the book up.

3. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

 Some readers may struggle with Appelt’s repeated phrases and poetic fragments, and wish the connections and conflicts in the story came to a faster boil. But most children will be pulled forward by the vulnerable pets’ survival adventure and by Small’s occasional, down-to-earth drawings, created with fluid lines that are a perfect match for the book’s saturated setting and Appelt’s ebbing, flowing lyricism. Grades 4-8. --Jennifer Mattson, Book List (starred Review)

2009 John Newbery Honor Book
2009 ALA Notable Children's Book

2008 National Book Award Finalist 

4. CONNECTIONS

To be completely honest, I had a hard time coming up with connections for this book beyond perhaps using it in a survival themed literature circle or simply in my classroom library.