Pride of Possession

Life in Western North Carolina for boys and girls and hunting dogs is full of wild boars, secret signals, hidden stills, places with  names like Fiefield Bald, Shuckstack, Neale's Gap, Little Mossy, Blue Run, and, of course, Doc Willet's drugstore and an ice cream sundae called the Idiot's Delight ― so huge, so last-forever.

When Braith McCable is attacked by a wild boar, his son Kiah watches the father he idolizes gored to death ― a father so huge, so last forever, that it seems to Kiah that his Pa has simply stepped out of reach and has not really departed, in spite of what the preacher says.  During the paralyzing moments of the boar's attack, Kiah stands by unable to act and later suffers from such great guilt and shame, that he vows to avenge his father's death. Together with two friends and couple of mutt pups, Kiah begins the seemingly hopeless task of organizing and executing a hunt ― a secret and dangerous undertaking that he must plan against the wishes of his mother. 

Published posthumously, this is a story that could very well surpass The Biscuit Eater ― James Street's most famous book also about boys and hunting dogs.  Pride of Possession  is a sensitive and insightful account that deals equally well with the adolescent struggles of Kiah and his friends as well as the adults with whom they are often in conflict. Together with Street's memorable portrait of the Smokey Mountains and a family at odds with the unthinkable, this is a book that will linger long after the last page is read.