Opal came running down and she heard a scream in terror. It was from the shop, Dixie's Buns. Opal is about 9 or 10. Then she found out that a baker was covered in potatoes in Dixie's Buns. Then she saw something zoom past her. It left a trail of potatoes and bread crumbs. She followed it and there was a dog covered in potatoes that had sauce all over it's teeth. On some parts of his body were spots that didn't have any hair. There were flies around him and the baker said, "who is this dog?"
Opal said, "it's mine, he got loose". The baker looked furiously into Opal's eyes and he said, "Keep that dog under control!!!" Also the baker said, "Are you sure it's your dog?" Opal said, "yes". The baker said, "Prove it then. Tell her to come to you and then I'll believe you". Opal backed away a few spaces back and she tried to think of a name to call the dog, then she saw the sign Winn Dixie Buns, then she remembered when the dog flew through the room and she thought of a name.
"Winn Dixie! Come here, boy" said Opal. The baker was shocked. The dog came to Opal, he pulled up his cheeks and then he SMILED. He smiled so hard that he sneezed. Then Opal said, "Come here Winn Dixie, let's give you a bath, you're dirty".
After the bath, Opal would see bald spots all over his body, but she couldn't do anything about that. Then she went to her Dad, the preacher, and she asked him if she could keep Winn Dixie. The preacher said, "Opal, let me see this dog and then I can choose." Then suddenly, something came out of the window. Somehow, he flew through the window. Opal was shocked. She went outside to see how he went through the window and she found trash cans stacked up to make stairs! Then she went back inside and talked about how she found him. The preacher asked what his name is. Opal said, "Winn Dixie." The preacher said she could keep him.
Opal went to a pet store to see the pet toys that Winn Dixie might like. There were all kinds of animals there. Snakes, turtles, cats, and then something said, "DOG!" Winn Dixie and Opal looked up. They saw a green and red parrot. A man rushed in and said, "I'm so sorry about Gertrude!" Gertrude is the parrot. Winn Dixie looked confused. "I named her after the owner who owned this store," said the manager. A lot of animals liked to see Winn Dixie. At the store, they found a blue leash and a collar for Winn Dixie. Opal really wanted to have them. Winn Dixie looked like he liked them too. Opal asked the man if she could do chores around the shop to pay off the leash and collar. The man told her to sweep every afternoon and I'll pay you 25 cents. She thought that was a perfect deal.
Every afternoon she would sweep the floor, dust the windows, wipe the tables and calm the pets down when they got loud. Winn Dixie seemed to be very good at that job. When they went out they saw a little girl and she had her knuckle in her mouth. She looked like she was about 5. She was dressed in yellow with a yellow bow on top of her head. She said, "do you want to come to my party, Opal?" Opal looked confused. She said, "how did you know my name?" Then the little girl said, "I'm Sweetie Pie and the preacher told me about you. The preacher and my mom have been friends since your Mom left you". Opal looked a little happy. Then Sweetie Pie said, "do you want to come to my party?" and Opal said yes. Sweetie Pie saw Winn Dixie and she hugged him and he looked like his eyes would pop out.
Opal went to her house and then she saw these two little boys, the Dewberry boys. The boys were bullies to Opal. Then she ran to her house and she was ready for the big party for Sweetie Pie. She went to the party and there was cake, berries, and pictures of dogs. Opal felt a raindrop and Sweetie Pie said, "I feel like it's going to rain" and suddenly rain started pouring down on them. Then it started to thunder. Winn Dixie shot up in the air and ran around and around and across and she disappeared into the woods. Opal came out with a flashlight and umbrella and she raced out into the dark to find Winn Dixie. She looked everywhere in the dark. She saw cars passing super fast. She was worried that Winn Dixie was in the middle of the road. Then she went home and started to give up. She decided to wait until the rain stopped and then go look. When Opal came back, the preacher was there hanging out with other grown ups. The preacher heard about what went wrong with Winn Dixie and said, "we have a surprise for you". Suddenly, Opal heard a sneeze. She looked under the chair and there was Winn Dixie, sleeping and smiling at the same time. The preacher said, "hug him softly, he's sleeping". Then someone came in the door and it was the pet store owner and he had a guitar and he played a song. Then Opal felt happy. The End.
Recommend this book to people who have or like dogs.
I give it 3 out of 5 stars.
