This is the story of a boy who was out in the woods with his friend and his dog. The dog started digging in the ground and found a baby raccoon. The boy, Sterling, took the raccoon home and it became his pet. Sterling fed his pet everyday and treated him like his best friend. Sterling named his raccoon Rascal. His dad didn't mind him keeping Rascal because he was always out on business. Sterling had many other pets like skunks, woodchucks, crows, etc. Well, Rascal gets bigger and bigger. He also starts getting into trouble. One night Rascal woke up and sneaked out. He went to the neighbor's farm and started to eat the corn crops, then the farmer found his foot prints. Sterling was forced to buy a leash and a cage. Sterling wasn't feeling too good about having a wild animal in captivity, but he didn't want to loose his best friend that he's had for so long. Suddenly one day something came over Sterling and took his canoe and Rascal and they started heading downstream for a long ride. That day Rascal and Sterling watched their last sunset, then Sterling released Rascal and watched him leave with his new mate.

I didn't like this book, because I didn't find a story about a boy and his pet raccoon very interesting. I would not recommend this book to 11 year olds and up.