A Blue-Eyed Daisy

Ellie Farley's father Okey drinks too much mostly because he hasn't been able to work since he was injured in a mining accident. He hasn't been able to hunt either so it's strange when he brings home a hunting dog a beagle named Bullet.But Bullet is only the first odd thing that happens to Ellie the year she's eleven. She sees a favorite uncle go off to war; a boy in her class has a fit in the middle of geography and another is accidentally killed while target shooting; and Okey drives his Chevy pickup off the mountain with near-tragic consequences. But still Ellie manages the ordinary pleasures of making a best friend and getting kissed for the first time -- it's no wonder she confides to Bullet on her twelfth birthday Some year.