"My name is India Opal-Buloni, and last summer, my daddy, the preacher sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice and two tomatoes, and I came back with a dog".
This book is meant to be read aloud, so clearly do you hear the voice of its young protagonist. It feels like she's come into the room with you and is pointing over your shoulder to her favourite memories in the family album. She hails from the 'deep South', her character as fine as "Anne of Green Gables" and "Pollyanna". She's a child who misses her absent mother, while her daddy is taken up with his work as the local preacher. It is up to India Opal to make her own friends in a new town.
There is pathos but also an undeniably humour, some great comic moments provided by her renegade dog, Winn-Dixie. His peculiar smile and fear of thunderstorms bewitch the heart of India Opal. Between them they herd a gaggle of illuminating characters to a very special party, given by Gloria Dump.
It's a little gem of a book, sure to make you smile.