children's lit: the crazy man

this is a novel for intermediate/middle school aged kids. it takes place in the 60s in saskatchewan. i am gonna give a brief description of the book and i know it sounds somewhat morbid but it's really a great book!! it's about a young girl Emmie (probably about 10 years old) who ends up getting run over by her father's tractor when trying to stop her dog from getting caught in the tractor. she ends up with a badly injured leg and her dad leaves her and her mom because he blames himself for the accident. "the crazy man" is not her dad, it's a man from the mental hospital in town who comes to work on their farm now that the dad is gone. the book doesn't go into much detail about the accident it's more about stereotypes and family. i am reading this book to the grade 5 class i work in right now. it's so awesome. i am having a hard time putting the book down each day. whenever i have free time in the day i quickly go and read ahead in the book just cause it's SO good!! in 2005 it won the governor general's award for children's literature. even though it's a kid's book i recommend it for everyone!