Eight-year-old Ashel is worried about a baby raccoon he heard while coon hunting with the Landers boys. He and his mother try to rescue the baby coon, but not before facing an alligator in the process. A bluetick puppy arrives on this doorstep and Ashel wonders if the puppy and the raccoon can get along. Cowboy Pete gives Ashel and a little Seminole girl, Cusseta, some roping and riding lessons, where Ashel makes a keen discovery. It is not until Ashel comes face to face with a Seminole Indian of the 1800s that Ashel begins to understand others who are from a different culture. When Cusseta is bullied on her first day at Ashel’s school, Ashel thinks quickly about the importance of friendship. The second in a series of Ashel books, “Ashel’s Spring” is also set in the deep south in the 1930s and is filled with issues that students face today.

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