On a farm in the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania, Meph the skunk and his littermate, just three days old, are caught in a flash flood and nearly drown in the cold waters. By the time their mother comes to their rescue, only Meph can be saved. Sycamore Will, tired of being ordered around the farm by his father, is building a fire in the hearth of the summer kitchen when he hears a scratching sound. To his delight, he finds Meph trying to dig into the foundation from the cellar! Will becomes determined to adopt the little skunk as a pet—but he’ll have to contend with Meph’s mother first. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Jean Craighead George, including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.
Author
Jean Craighead George wrote over eighty popular books for young adults, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves and the Newbery Honor book My Side of the Mountain. Most of her books deal with topics related to the environment and the natural world. While she mostly wrote children's fiction, she also wrote at least two guides to cooking with wild foods, and an autobiography, Journey Inward. The mother of three children, (Twig C. George, Craig, and T. Luke George) Jean George was a grandmother who joyfully read to her grandchildren since the time they were born. Over the years Jean George kept one hundred and seventy-three pets, not including dogs and cats, in her home in Chappaqua, New York. "Most of these wild animals depart in autumn when the sun changes their behaviour and they feel the urge to migrate or go off alone. While they are with us, however, they become characters in my books, articles, and stories."
