Greg Kincaid's "Christmas with Tucker" is, on the surface, a story about coming of age. Once you get into it further, it's far more complex than that.The book 's primary action takes place in 1962. Thirteen-year-old George McCray lives with his grandparents on a Kansas dairy. His father has been killed in an accident, and his mother and sisters have moved away to Minnesota. George asks for a little more time on the farm.During the course of the book, George starts to take care of Tucker. Tucker belongs to a neighbor, Frank Thorne, who was a friend of George's late father. Thorne is arrested for drunk-and-disorderly, and Grandpa Bo agrees to care for the dog while Thorne is in jail. George and Tucker soon become inseparable.The harsh Kansas winter brings many lessons for George, about responsibility, neighborliness and even prejudice as he confronts some of his own misconceptions and learns to grow as a result.The ending was not at all what I expected, and brought a tear to my eye. An absolutely beautiful book to read during the holiday season.
