The Next Read

Kids book or not:

As he tells it, it was when traveling with friends by raft that Kerasote first encountered Merle, a half-starved, gawky puppy who had apparently been surviving in the wild. Camping beside the stream, Kerasote and his friends fed and connected with the half-grown mixed Labrador dog. When it was time to move on, the guys shoved off, and Merle nervously began to follow. Like his ancestors who first chose life with man, Merle hesitated, running along the trail beside the river, torn between leaving his familiar territory and joining the man who had befriended him. At the last moment, Merle jumped onto the raft and began his fourteen-year relationship with Ted.