Finding Susie

As a child, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor got to know a wide variety of the wild, indigenous animals that surrounded her desert ranch home. Finding Susie is a composite of her own and her siblings’ experiences. She currently lives in Arizona.

Tom Pohrt’s illustrations have appeared on the cover of The New Yorker, as well as in many acclaimed picture books, including the bestselling Crow and Weasel, written by Barry Lopez. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
From the Hardcover edition.

Kindergarten-Grade 3—Sandra lives on a ranch and yearns for a pet to keep her company. Her understanding parents allow her to care for various wild creatures of the desert that need her help, including a tortoise, a wild rabbit, an injured coyote, and, finally, an orphaned baby bobcat. As she feeds and cares for each one, Sandra slowly realizes that it will be happier in its natural habitat and reluctantly releases it into the wild. Then the town grocer comes up with a good solution—a small, white, stray dog with a curly tail that needs a home. O'Connor's story is somewhat autobiographical, and the endpapers display actual photos of her, Susie, and the ranch where she lived as a child. Pohrt's realistic-looking watercolor illustrations of the Southwest are well done, although Sandra does not look much older at the end, when at least two years have passed in her search for a pet. However, the theme is a good one, with its emphasis on the fact that wild animals thrive best in the wild, and the story is well told.—Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA
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