This summer I finally read a book by the highly acclaimed author, Kate DiCamillo. I scrolled through the options available to borrow and chose Because of Winn-Dixie. Because of Winn-Dixie is a story of friendship, overcoming pre-judgement, and the powerful nature of mixed feelings. Our protagonist is a thoughtful and precocious 10-year-old named Opal India Buloni. The book is framed around the notion that everything good that happened to Opal that first summer they lived in Naomi was because of a stinky, ratty, stray dog named “Winn-Dixie”, whom Opal rescues from the local grocery store of the same name.