Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Published 1961 · 272 pages · 74,800 words · about 3 hours at an average pace · Children's Literature, Coming-of-Age
How hard is Where the Red Fern Grows to read?
Where the Red Fern Grows scores 20 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it relatively accessible. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 22 out of 100
- Rawls writes plain, conversational prose with Ozark dialect and some hunting terms. It sits close to Judy Blume's young adult register and below Beach Read in sophistication.
- Sentence structure: 22 out of 100
- Sentences are short and direct, with simple storytelling rhythm. It reads like Anne Frank's diary for ease.
- Abstraction: 26 out of 100
- The story stays concrete: hounds, hunts, money saved, a boy's wants. Its ideas about loyalty and loss come through events, as in Judy Blume's Margaret.
- Information density: 20 out of 100
- The plot moves at an unhurried pace with few threads and little background to track. It is lighter than Beach Read.
- Narrative indirection: 18 out of 100
- Billy tells the story plainly and tells readers what he feels. The older narrator's perspective adds only a light layer of reflection.
- Symbolic density: 32 out of 100
- The red fern carries a clear symbolic weight, and the hounds stand for devotion. The symbols are signposted, similar to the mockingbird in Harper Lee's novel but simpler.
- Ironic distance: 100 out of 100
- The narration is sincere and sentimental, with little gap between what is said and what is meant. It matches the earnest voice of Judy Blume's Margaret.
- Resolution withholding: 14 out of 100
- The story resolves clearly, with a full account of the hunts and a definite emotional ending. The red fern provides closure rather than ambiguity.
- Structural complexity: 18 out of 100
- The tale runs in a linear sequence of hunts and trials, framed briefly by the older Billy's memory. It is as simple in shape as Anne Frank's diary.
How Where the Red Fern Grows is regarded
Where the Red Fern Grows holds a literary regard score of 39 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.