Swiftwater

I had to read this book when I was in High School. It only took me 2 days to read it and I still love to read it from time to time. My experience in the woods helped me understand How Cam and Bucky was one with nature. I could also relate to Bucky entering into manhood and being a "loner" from the towns continual harassment and thoughtlessness of a family that was one of the last pioneers. Bucky and Cam's love for the wild geese shows pride and respect for Indian lore. They fought for what they thought was right and stuck to their guns no matter what the consequences. An excellent book that every young reader should read as well as adults. The movie "Those Calloways" did a true injustice to a magnificent story. Don't judge the book by the movie.

My first exposure to this book was my father telling me that it was one of his favorites back in the early 60's. In 1965, Walt Disney decided to turn it into a motion picture ("Those Calloways"), which starred Brian Keith, Vera Miles, Brandon DeWilde, and a VERY young Linda Evans. While the movie was a little above the typical Disney movie of the day (it was more of a drama than others from the studio at that time), it still contained some of that well-known Disney sappiness, especially towards the end, where the movie takes a side track as compared to the book.The book centers around Cam Calloway, a man living in a small New England town in the early part of the 1900's, and his mid-teenage-years son Bucky. Through the situations in the novel, it focuses on the relationship between the two, as well as Bucky's growing relationship with close family friend Bridie Mellot. While I won't divulge any of the info here, the movie (occasionally on the Disney Channel from time to time), and the book, stay pretty much in step with one another, with only minor differences--UNTIL the end, where the movie takes a Disney-influenced hard-left turn from the book.No matter how you look at it--book or film--it's worth tracking this one down, for a good, old-fashioned, coming of age story. And, if you're an outdoors person of the camping/hiking/hunting sort, then it should be all the more of an interesting night or two of good reading.