The Red Bandanna

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Jake Grant is an 11-year-old city kid with a problem. He and his family
have recently moved to cattle country in rural British Columbia. At
first, Jake liked his new life, especially when he became a surrogate
parent to a helpless coyote puppy. Unfortunately, the Grant family’s
neighbor is Griff Webster, a hard-drinking rancher who dislikes city
people almost as much as he hates coyotes because he thinks that they
kill calves. Jake’s father tried quoting the latest scientific studies
that show that coyotes eat rodents, not calves, but Webster has no use
for “fancy pants scientists.” Jake has already caught their neighbor
sneaking around their farm throwing down poison coyote bait. Now Webster
has threatened to shoot any coyote he sees on his side of the fence.
Although Jake tries to teach his coyote to stay away from Webster’s
land, he knows his pet will always be half-wild and may someday wander
across the property line and risk being killed.

Are coyotes a rancher’s friend or foe? That controversy provides the
basis for this first novel by David John Smith. Using wit and polished
prose, Smith deftly crafts a solid “kid-and-his-misunderstood-dog”
tale without becoming overly pedantic or maudlin. Young readers with
tender sensibilities be warned: the occasional “son-of-a-bitch” and
“arsehole” spice Webster’s language. Recommended.