Jody Baxter, his father, Penny, and his mother, Ora, live on an island of high good land surrounded by the Florida scrub. It is a meager existence, often filled with hardship, but the Baxters get by on what they have. Jody and his father have a special relationship, sharing a common love of nature and the simple pleasures of life. Penny is indulgent, allowing Jody to ""kick up his heels"" while he can. ""The day'll come,"" Penny thinks, ""he'll not even care to.""
In contrast to the quiet peaceful lives of the Baxters, their nearest neighbors, the Forresters, are loud, argumentative, and prone to being troublemakers. Jody finds their zest for life and their free and easy ways appealing. But relations between the Baxters and the Forresters are strained when Penny and Jody intervene in a fight between Lem Forrester and Oliver Hutto, a friend of the family.
Jody and Penny team up with the Forresters to rid the scrub of the menace of the wolves. During a successful hunt, the party comes upon a group of bear cubs. Thinking quickly, Penny arranges that the cubs be captured live and sold. The money from the resulting sale, and the birth of a new heifer calf, promise a joyful Christmas for the family. The Baxters make plans to go to Volusia for a community Christmas celebration and stay with the Huttos.
The Yearling is a story about a special relationship between a father and a son, covering a year in the life of an adolescent who is ""betwixt and between,"" no longer a boy, but not yet a man.
Progeny Press Study Guide: 68 pages
# of Lessons: 11 Chapter Lessons + Summary
Subjects: Florida, growing up, fathers and sons, nature, loneliness, friendship
Grade Level: 9-12