The Underneath

The Underneath	Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
Written by Kathi Appelt, Illustrated by David Small	2010
Fiction	311 pages
Reading Level age 9-12	Newberry Award

Summary

There are three overlapping plots to this book. The first is of a cat, left on the road side expecting kittens. She hears a bloodhound’s lonely song and stays with him underneath the porch of a leaning house, lived in by a man named Gar Face. She delivers her kittens, named Puck and Sabine. She and the dog, Ranger watch over the kittens and warn them to stay underneath where it is safe and not to go from that safety. Gar Face, the man would rarely feed Ranger, who had been beaten as a child and left with a garish deformed face, would use the kittens for alligator bait if he knew. He had found where a 100 foot alligator lived in the swamp and spent his days trolling the swamp for a glimpse of the ancient foe and his evenings at the local tavern. The cat soon hunted for her kittens’ meals and brought back small morsels for Ranger. One day Puck decided to venture out into the sun. He is caught by Gar Face, his mother attempts to free him, but eventually being caught as well. Gar Face tosses the cats into a sack and tosses them into the murky swamp water. The mother is able to untangle the sting and let Puck escape. The laces entwine the mother’s paws and she sinks to the bottom, seeing the flitting body of a hummingbird. Puck remembers his promise to his mother to rescue Sabine and Ranger from the man. He learns how to hunt and take care of himself. He attempts numerous times to cross the swamp to return to the Underneath. Close by, Sabine ventures out at night to hunt for herself and Ranger. Ranger is chained to the porch and though he loves Sabine; he is saddened for the loss of his cat friend and Puck. He tries to break the chain but is unable to. Deep under the hollow tree where Puck finds shelter, old Grandmother Moccasin has been trapped in a jar for 100 years for tricking her daughter to return to her former snake shape. She waits to be set free to find her granddaughter, who went looking for answers after her mother disappeared. Old Grandmother is full of hatred of her daughter’s betrayal and her choice to live with the human who lived in the swamp. She waits for the dying to topple in the stormy winds that will uproot her prison jar. Old Grandmother is friends with the ancient Alligator King that plays with the ugly human, Gar Face, waiting for him to make a mistake. Gar Face is obsessed with the Alligator King and remembers the two kittens he threw in the water. He watches out the window and sure enough he sees little Sabine run from the dark Underneath at dusk for dinner. He decides she will be the perfect bait. Sabine, unaware of the man’s plan, runs from the Underneath the next night. Caught! Ranger attacks Gar Face, sinking his teeth deeply into his leg. Gar Face, shocked and badly hurt, drops Sabine and hits Ranger repeatedly with a board. He unchains Ranger and drags him into the shadowy swamp. Sabine follows, hoping for a chance to help Ranger. Across the swamp the tree finally falls; Grandmother is free and Puck has a bridge across the deep water. Grandmother slithers to see the Alligator King as Puck crosses the waters and dashes home. Once there, he can’t find Sabine, Ranger or even the mean man. He steps into puddles of blood, something was wrong. He quickly follows the scent and the dark red stains. He catches up to the trio, and climbs a tree to get a better vantage point, little did he know that Grandmother had returned and was just above him, hidden by the branches. Puck watches in horror as Gar Face drops Ranger’s chain and draws his gun at Sabine, who had been creeping closer. Puck screeches as loud as he could, startling the man and shot towards the sound. Puck fearlessly drops onto the man’s face, digging in his sharp polished claws. The man, staggering towards the swamp threw Puck in, while scooping water to clean his cuts. He looks up to see the gigantic mouth of the Alligator King gaping towards him. The man had made a mistake and paid as a meal to the Alligator King. Puck swam ashore and curled up exhausted next to Ranger with Sabine close by. They all fell into a deep sleep. When they awoke, the two kittens set about cleaning the blood of Ranger’s tender, bruised body. Ranger sleepily opened his eyes, glancing at the shimmering hummingbird. They were finally free of the horrible man, but the chain was now attached to the tree, anchoring Ranger still. Some leaves stirred, right in front of them was Grandmother Moccasin. She had watched the unlikely trio and felt the loss of love in her life; she had let hated fester and grow inside of her instead of seeing her daughter’s love. She rose above the three and struck, snapping the rusty hated chain from Ranger’s neck. She died, having been shot by the man’s rifle when Puck yowled. As she faded, she saw the small body of the hummingbird; it was her granddaughter, finally there to the other side. Sabine, Ranger and Puck gathered themselves and walked through the swamp, finding a new home among the overhanging trees here.

Response

I loved this book. The chapters were short and switched back and forth to the different threads. It kept me interested and thinking about how they would change the next character’s chapter and actions. I thought it was well written and enjoyed all the overlapping of the stories; I especially liked the ending where everything was resolved. The characters all had qualities that are prevalent: hatred, greed, love, courage, trustworthy, protector and friendship.

Potential Problems

This has many descriptive violent scenes, that aren’t appropriate for younger ages and those who are sensitive. This is an intense book but has a great ending where the evil is vanquished and the good triumph.

Recommendations

I would recommend this to a much older audience than what is suggested. It could be good for those who could relate to the inquisitive kittens who go in trouble or to Ranger who was not appreciated and abused.