Dogland

In this poignant coming-of-age tale, pearls of childhood memory are strung on a fine strand of fantasy. Shetterly (Elsewhere; Neverever) refracts the turmoil of the civil rights era through the eyes of four-year-old Chris Nix, whose father moves the family from Minnesota to a small Florida community in 1959. Luke Nix is fired with the ambition to build Dogland, a tourist attraction featuring more than 120 different breeds of dog, but his outspokenness and liberal attitudes toward race and religion rankle the locals, many of whom are card-carrying Klansmen. This culture-clash explodes into an open confrontation between Luke's ideals and the bigotry of the town. Skillfully, Shetterly evokes America's headlong hurtle from the innocence of the 1950s to the violence of the '60s through incidents that puzzle the child narrator yet lodge in his memory as they unfold against the heavily symbolic, utopian backdrop of Dogland. There's a weak subplot concerning the Fountain of Youth, but the tale's true wellspring of magic is the enchanted childhood Chris conjures from reminiscences of his family and the popular culture of the day. A deceptively simple story, rich with complex characters and timeless themes, this novel will charm enthusiasts of contemporary fantasy. (June)