** spoiler alert ** I couldn't put this book down. I loved everything about this book--the voice of the narrator, the way the author developed the characters (including the unlikeable character of Judd Travers)and the way she described life in the town of Friendly. I felt like I was right there living Marty's story. This is an unforgettable story of friendship, love, determination and the complexities of life. As Marty puts it in the last paragraph, "nothing is as simple as you guess--not right or wrong, not Judd Travers, not even me or this dog I got here. But the good part is I saved Shiloh and opened my eyes some. Now that ain't bad for eleven."

"Did you ever notice how the more a little kid tries not to tell a secret, the sooner it gets out? Nothing that child can do about it. A secret is just too big for a little kid."

"there's food for the body and food for the spirit. And Shiloh sure enough feeds our spirit."

"It's the first time in my life I ever felt anything like sorry for Judd Travers. If you weighted it on a postal scale, would hardly move the needle at all, but I suppose there was a fraction of an ounce of sorry for him somewhere inside me. When I thought on all the things I'd done with my own dad and how Judd could only remember hunting, well, that was pretty pitiful for a lifetime."