What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
This topic is about
Hunter in the Dark
SOLVED: Children's/YA
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SOLVED. YA, read in '80s, teenage boy with leukemia goes on deer hunt by himself. [s]
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Some major differences from the story you describe as it is the grandfather who has cancer and not the boy, but it does have the idea of letting the deer go. Asking to rule out- Tracker by Gary Paulsen?
Never mind- probably this one: Hunter in the Dark by Monica Hughes
Yes!! I'm sure that's it; I know I read her other works, and the title and description sound familiar. Thank you!
Anyway: The book is set in the USA. The protagonist is a teenage boy on a deer hunt in the forest, on his own. Through flashbacks, we find out that he has leukaemia. His parents kept this from him at first and insisted the doctor didn't tell him the truth, but the doctor did give him the name of one of the medications that was treating him and so he looked that up and found it was used to treat leukaemia. He's on the deer hunt because he missed going on one with his father before due to being ill, and it's something he really wants to do; I think I remember a conversation with his friend where his friend convinces him.
At the end of the book, he's successfully tracked down a stag and is about to shoot. He remembers being in hospital and getting the IV chemotherapy and thinking 'God, it wasn't fair, why me?' He sights on the stag and says to himself, you're all mine and for today I'm God. Then he lets the stag go.