Weakfoot: The Ghost of Cramer's Island

by Linda Cline

Coming of age in a cypress swamp....

Genres: Paranormal

149 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1975

Reviews

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are not enough books that my kids beg me to keep reading and we finish within 24 hours of starting. This was one of those books that we just couldn't put down. We loved it. It is especially good for boys. It's going to be a classic at our house.

[Travis Mays · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book long ago. I still remember the entire story to this day. I would recommend this book to everyone, regardless of your genre of choice. I believe this is probably the best book I have ever read.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be the first to admit that my five stars on this book are mostly sentimental. Oh, it's a good book in the vein of Wilson Rawls' Where the Red Fern Grows, but not quite as good as that masterpiece. I hadn't read this book in, well ... a really, really long time. I'd sold my copy a quarter century ago but bought another one a while back and finally got around to re-reading it. It was as good as a remembered and took me back to my childhood of reading anything I could find about a boy and his hunting dog.

I first heard of this story after the 1977 Wonderful World of Disney episode The Ghost of Cypress Swamp. It was based on Linda Cline's novel Weakfoot, which was renamed The Ghost of Cramer's Island. Why so many title changes? No idea. But after the Disney show the book showed up in the Scholastic book catalogues we used to get in grade school and I talked my mom into ordering it for me.

The story is about a boy who loses his dog to a panther called Weakfoot. Later, while hunting the panther, he's captured by Tom Smutt, an accused murderer, but befriends the old man who has lived in the swamp for 13 years. He gets free, gets a new dog, gets a girlfriend, and ... there's more stuff with Weakfoot and Smutt. It's a good story.

If you're into stories about boys and dogs, this is an excellent one. And, thanks to the Internet, you can catch the old Disney movie based on the book here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fto48...

[joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars

[Basel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the Arabic translation the book us amazing

[Bryce Stachewicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this at AxMan surplus store, good old fashioned reading.

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading a bunch of small books in prep to choose the best for our read-aloud class next year--8-11 year olds get to hear some good things for an hour each Friday morning. The criteria would be that the books have to be not too much for the tender 8 year olds (especially the little girls), but still good enough to hold the attention of the 11 yo.

This was an interesting book. I think it's too scary for the 8 yo, it has a pretty frightening kidnapping and a couple of other scary incidents so I don't think it's a candidate, but on the other hand, it has some very worthy ideas to ponder for an older reader, say 10/11 to adult. It reminds me somewhat of Wilson Rawls' books or Old Yeller. It's got the "growing up" and doing hard things theme.

The thing I liked best was the boy's realization that being scared doesn't make a person a coward. I loved his conversation about this with his father at the end. The book had a lot of heart and it is definitely a worthy read. I'll probably purchase it in the near future.

[Joralyn Boneo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was sad when Tom Smutt surrendered his life by letting his body just be drowned in a quicksand. Somehow, I felt disappointed because I already loved the character of Tom Smutt. I thought he is as bad as the cat roaming around the island, it thought he kills people, though he killed some animals but it's for his living. And as Lonny stayed in his possession, his real attitude showed up. No matter how long he had been living in the island, he still cared for the boy. That's why it's some kind of frustration when Smutt didn't let himself be back on the town, instead let himself just die in the island. It hurts that Lonny has already cared for Smutt yet Smutt chose to stay away from him. The story also portrays the importance of animals in our lives, that even Weakfoot, the killer cat, hurt people we should also realize that it might not hurt them when they are not also bothering to hunt it. The cat is just protecting its life. The story can let us analyze that animals has also a part in our world, no matter what they can do to us. Indeed, horray for Mrs. Linda Cline!

[Judith Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ghost of Cramer's Island was originally published as "Weakfoot," by Linda Cline. Scholastics reprinted the book with a new title. And it was converted to a film for television by the Walt Disney Company, who retitled the work again as "The Ghost of Cypress Swamp."

Now this adventure novel geared for readers age 10 to 17 will be available as an ebook under the original title: Weakfoot. Watch for it on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com for reading on Kindle or Nook ereaders.

My ebook publishing company: Threewriters Press ... is launching the book this week.

Judith Richards
author/editor/publisher

[Guy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so this is really really old but still one of my favorites. I read this when I was in the 6th grade and I still have the actual book. It is a story of a boy who finds a man int he woods and forms a unique bond with him. There is also a menace in that woods that stalks them all. The charactures are deep and described so that you can relate. The relationship of the boy and man has depth and will keep youy reading. For all you girls out there, the end will have you in tears.

Really good. Oh! and it is a fast read too.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was one of my favorite books as pre-teen.

[Jade Torayno]

fgcyhsethysdrhsdfgh