I read this aloud to my son. I can't decide whether it's worth keeping. On the one hand, Brad's relationship with his older sister really bothered me--it's pretty snarky tho probably meant to reflect current family dynamics in America. Also, the family members are stiff; and his new friend Nolan is another cardboard character written in to provide a local contact. On the other hand, he does show compassion and appreciation for the wild coyotes nearby, and learns the hard way that keeping a wild animal for a pet is not a good idea.
My son does not have the ability to express judgements, but does like hearing about human-animal interactions, has requested reading more about Scooter, but isn't obsessed when I said the book wasn't available now. This does seem to indicate he didn't identify with Brad either.
As an ecologist, I am really surprised by another reviewer's opinion that animals are better off in captivity. If that reviewer had ever experienced the sense of freedom expressed in this book, they wouldn't have been able to state wild animals are happier living in a cage. ( )

Not a lot to say on this book, it provides the common topic many childrens and teens books will use: You can't keep a wild animal. The difference is, if memory serves me, the coyote is released to a wildlife preserve and not tossed into the wild.

While the message is well intended and this book has several scenes I find fresh and pleasant, even going so far as to have the animal ruin outfits by defecating upon them and picking fights with family pets, it's still a message that tends to be vastly overused and wrong.

Animals live longer in captivity. Often happier lives that way. Thus the book holds up better than most, but still hits a sour note with the predictable ending. ( )

This story has some sad parts, but is a good story about a boy and a coyote.

very good like it a lot thought it was going to be a boring short book but it was very good ( )

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