Rooster: A Field Trial Fable

by Edward Pontacoloni

There is magic in this tale of an underdog.  A blue faerie sprite from the long ago forests of Ireland sings a song of hopes and dreams. An old Irish dog trainer, his young niece, and a novice handler aspire to a championship in a sport where the competition can be conspiratorial and literally snarling. Then there is Rooster, the flop eared, yellow-eyed "mongrel breed" and his buddy Sparky, and with this cast of characters the reader is given over to a fantasy in which hopes and dreams come true. Winner of the 2016 Reader's Favorite Bronze Medal for Animal Fiction, Rooster is "... a roller coaster ride of excitement...hilarious, engaging, and absolutely entertaining."  Reader's Favorite, Five Stars.

148 pages, Hardcover

Published June 8, 2016

Reviews

[Literary Reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rooster by Edward Pontacoloni is a sporting fiction novel with a strong thread of animal fantasy woven through it. The story follows Tom Quinn, a lifelong field trialer, and later young Mike, Amy, and the orange, floppy-eared dog Rooster, as they move through the competitive world of American bird dog field trials. It is about dogs, yes, but also about loyalty, cruelty, hope, old grudges, and the strange magic that can gather around people and animals who believe in one another.

I was pulled in by how much this book cares about its world. Pontacoloni writes field trialing not as a hobby on the edge of the story, but as the story’s soil. The rules, the horses, the handlers, the dogs on point, the talk of bloodlines and training, all of it feels lived in. At times, that detail slows the pace, but I didn’t mind it as much. It gave the book texture. I felt like I was being invited onto the grounds by someone who knew every rut in the trail and every old argument around the campfire.

The author’s biggest choice, and probably the one readers will either embrace or resist, is the blend of realism and fable. One moment the book is candid about the harshness of the field trial world, including culling, sabotage, pride, and rough men with rough methods. The next, it opens the door to pookas, talking dogs, and the idea that belief can bend the shape of what is possible. I found that mix oddly fitting. Dogs already make people a little more willing to believe in wonder. Rooster, as a character, earns that wonder because he is not presented as perfect. He’s a “mongrel breed” in a world that prizes pedigree, and that makes his rise feel both funny and quietly moving.

I would recommend Rooster most to readers who enjoy animal stories, dog books, sporting fiction, and gentle fantasy with an old-fashioned storytelling voice. It will especially appeal to anyone who has loved a dog and suspected, even once, that the dog understood more than it let on. Readers who like reflective, affectionate stories with heart, history, and a touch of folklore will find a lot to enjoy here.