"My name is India Opal Buloni, and last summer my daddy, the preacher, sent me to the store for a box of macaroni-and-cheese, some white rice, and two tomatoes and I came back with a dog." Opal names the dog, Winn-Dixie, after the grocery store and discovers his wonderful talent of smiling and making new friends. Opal begins to accept her mother's abandonment, her father's sadness, and moving to a strange, new town. Opal befriends the town librarian, an ex-con store clerk, and the neighborhood "witch" and learns much about life, friendship, and forgiveness.

BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE © 2000 by Kate DiCamillo. Jacket illustration © 2000 byChris Sheban. Used with permission of the publisher.