| A Day No Pigs Would Die |
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''A Day No Pigs Would Die'' is a 1972 Coming Of Age story by Robert Newton Peck about a young Shaker boy in Vermont . The sequel is ''A Part of the Sky'', also by Robert Newton Peck . PLOT SYNOPSIS It all begins when 'Rob', named after Robert Rogers, leaves school early because Edward Thatcher made fun of his Shaker clothing. While wandering, he notices that his neighbor's cow, Apron, is giving birth. He births two Calves and ends up ripping a Goitre out of her throat when she begins to choke on it. His neighbor, Benjamin Tanner, finds him and brings him home. His arm is torn and he is covered in prickers. However, the two calves, Bib and Bob, live. In return, Mr. Tanner tries to give Rob a pet piglet as a reward. However, it would be a frill, so it would be forbidden. Instead, Mr. Tanner gives him the Piglet as an early payment for help in yoking his two new calves. Rob names her Pinky. They pull her crib away from Daisy, the cow's, barn using a Capstan . Rob and Pinky go to frolic in the woods a lot. At one point, she is startled by a frog, a crow, and a crayfish. She never strays 'farther than you can kick a barrel.' She begins to grow quickly. Then, Rob's Aunt Mattie visits and tries to explain how to diagram sentences to Rob. (he was getting a D in English) She says that she would rather teach the pig. At another point, Rob is awoken in the middle of the night to stop Sebring Hillman from disturbing Letty Phelps' grave. Sebring, though married, had an affair with Letty, who had gotten pregnant. She drowned the baby then hung herself. Sebring wanted to bury the baby on his own land. At another point, the women are gossiping about Widow Bascom and her hired hand, Ira Long. Also, Rob sees a dog get 'weaseled.' This is when a dog and a weasel are put together in a closed barrel. They fight to the death. It is supposed to make the dog hate Weasels . Although the dog, Ira Long's dog named Hussy, kills the weasel, the dog dies too. Rob is sad. Rob also gets the chance to go to Rutland Fair. He shows Bob and Bib, and brings Pinky, who wins a first prize blue ribbon for best-behaved pig. His Aunt Carrie slipped him a dime for a sacrilegious frill, but he ends up spending it on used saddle soap to clean off Pinky before the showing. He vomits on the judges when he gets too nervous. However, soon after, Rob realizes that Pinky is Barren . She is therefore a frill. Papa, coincidentally a hog slaughterer, will have to kill her. Also, Papa confesses to Rob that he has a Lung Infection and that this winter is his last. Although Pinky lives awhile longer, the day comes when she must be slaughtered, as the apples were smoked incorrectly and Papa, Haven, could not shoot a deer. Rob must help in her killing. He and Papa both cry. Then, in spring, Papa dies. Rob organizes the funeral, digs the grave, and tells Mama and Aunt Carrie without crying. In fact, he seems eerily calm and collected. He realizes that when Papa said that he was rich, he was right. Papa was rich in friends, honesty, and neighbors. He was rich where it counts. Peck has said that the book is Fiction al, but some of the details are based on actual events in his life. The author himself is the main character, and he has commented that the character of Haven Peck was derived heavily from his own father. CONTROVERSY Because of its sensitive subject matter (including a graphic description of the act of two pigs Copulating ), the inclusion of Peck's novel in literature courses and school libraries was frequently challenged during the 1990 s. It appears on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 at number seventeen (17).http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm AWARDS
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