Added 1/5/2002: This book is the same as the original, and includes articles on building a Pietenpol Aricamper, a Heath biplane glider, and other articles on building techniques and reducing the drag on an aircraft. The modern-day plans for the Aircamper have changed a bit, and this book is of special interest to Aircamper builders who would like to see some of the history of this remarkable early homebuilt.

The story ends with Fog Cat's unexplained disappearance, but Hannah does have left the sole surviving kitten from a litter. Helmer neatly bookends the beginning and ending of her story, neither explaining why Hannah has come to live with her Grandfather, what happened to her parents or her Grandmother at the start or resolving what happens to Fog Cat.

I confess to having a special reason for reading this book. Since I spent some time in the early 1980s in Oran, Algeria, I have been intrigued with the peoples of North Africa. And this book takes place in many of the cities and towns that are familiar to me. What surprises is to see that even though there was a good thirty years difference between the time this story took place and the 1980s, there were vestiges that for some, things still remained. I can only hope that there has been considerable improvement in the past 20 years.

This is a book that makes us think. And even though the subject: a disenfranchised youth in the life of petty crimes in the fringe of society is not unusual in the literature of developing countries, it is important to return to these themes once in a while, getting out of our comforatble, well educated bubbles, and rethink our own contributions to world around us.

I am a better person for having read this book. That's a sign of excellence.