SOONER

"Elizabeth, this is Sooner Hawes. I've brought her home to stay with us awhile."
Elizabeth felt the fear beat up at her from inside. She stared at Mac. His eyes helf steady. They weren't pleading anymore, just waiting.
My God, he's just up and done it, without explanation, or asking, or even trying to talk me around. She wanted to scream at him that he had no right to-to handle her like this. Not even a baby she might come to think of as her own, but a - a mongrel!

"What were you thinking, Mac? All you have to do is force on somebody the opportunity to love, and she will? Couldn't you at least have tried me out on something more likely? She's never heard of a toothbrush, doesn't even know what toilet paper is... that dirty little..."

The tender, moving novel of a young girl who learns the many ways of caring -

Sooner was only nine... with raggedy clothes, a harsh, brutal childhood spent with an embittered, bootlegging, Bible-quoting old woman. Sooner's only warmth and companionship came from her woodland animal friends, a redwing blackbird and a little chipmunk.

But then Sooner began a new life with Mac, a warm, giving veterinarian, and his wife Elizabeth - who was unable to have any children...

A GIRL NAMED SOONER is the heartwarming story of these three human beings, who together found a new fulfillment in the act of giving... and a new understanding of what it is to love.