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Gemini Summer

Gemini Summer
Written by Iain Lawrence in 2006

Summary

Gemini Summer is a Children Novel written by Iain Lawrence and it tells the story of a young boy who has to learn to cope with the loss of his brother in a tragic accident. The story begins in a police station with the sheriff trying to determine where the boy and the dog came from. The little Boy’s name is Danny and his dog is named rocket and the book begins with how they ended up in that police station miles from home. This Novel won the Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature in 2006

Setting

This book begins during the summer of 1964 in a valley called Hogs Hollow where the River family lived. It was a small valley with only 17 people living there and all around the city stretched for miles with the airport on one side and towers on the other, but the hollow was a quiet place to live.

Plot

The tale of two young brothers who spend all their time together and enjoy the summer playing like any little boys would do. They would go to their fort that no one knew about and spend all day talking about their dreams. They had their routine and they would stick to it every day until there came a point in time when Beau was embarrassed to be around his family, more so his father this embarrassment came from the fact that his father pumped septic tanks for a living. Although Beau spent less time with his family he still promised Danny that he would go to the fort every Sunday, and they always did no matter what. One night the boys were playing outside near the pit that Old Man River had dug when suddenly Beau fell into the pit and a pole went right though his chest. Mrs. River came running when she heard the screams from Danny, this was an extremely difficult time for the River family and they all took the time to grieve together. A few months after Beaus death a hurt and stranded stray dog wandered into the yard. Danny wanted nothing to do with this animal as it reminded him too much of his brother and to Danny’s surprise Mrs River wanted to keep the dog to help the dog get better. After a week of the dog getting better Danny decided that he wanted to keep the dog when he looked into the dogs eyes and could have sworn he could see his brother Beau looking back at him. From this time on Danny spent every day with the dog doing all the brotherly things him and Beau used to do. Danny tried to tell his parents that Beau had come back in the form of a dog and it was okay to be upset, however they never did believe Danny. One day rocket bit a boy and the police wanted to take rocket away, but Danny wouldn’t have this so him and rocket ran away to pursue the dream that Beau had always wanted. They ran away to go meet the famous astronaut Gus Grissom. In the end Danny is returned home and is able to forever keep his dog and he believes every day that his brother really did come back in the body of this stray dog.

Characters

Old man River pumped septic tanks for a living because when he went to war he was always sick so they had him pumping septic tanks wherever they went and when he came home from war this was just a job that he kept. It was never meant to stay permanent and it was something he was ashamed to tell his boys because they had believed that he fought in the war

Mrs River was a southern woman who dreamed of becoming an author and no one knew that she was writing a novel in the basement. She collected gone with the wind dolls and dreamed of moving home to the south but she never had never been south of Virginia.

Beau was just a young boy who wanted to be an astronaut more than anything in the world and knew all the facts about space that a boy could know. He loved to spend time with his brother and talk about his dreams and go to the fort every Sunday. His dreams were cut short the summer of 1965 when he fell to his death in an accident

Danny was the younger of the two brothers and his biggest dream was to have a dog but his mother always had the same answer that the city was no place for a dog. This didn’t stop Danny from believing that he would eventually get a dog he always suspected he would wake up Christmas morning to a dog on his bed. When he eventually got a dog it was under the unfortunate circumstance that a stray had wandered into the yard just a few short months after Beau’s death.