The was the first "adult" book that I read as an elementary school kid, and I didn't fully understand all that I was reading, except it just made me incredibly sad. This was then soon followed by books such as "[b:where the Red Fern Grows|10365|Where the Red Fern Grows|Wilson Rawls|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166154337s/10365.jpg|115]," and "Old Yeller."