43 pages • 1 hour read
Summer of Riley
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Themes
Navigating Change
Content Warning: This section includes discussions of animal euthanasia.
At the beginning of the novel, William is living in the aftermath of some difficult changes in his life. His parents have been divorced for three years, and his grandfather has just died. The happy, stable life he remembers from his early childhood has vanished, leaving him adrift. William’s mother decides to get him a dog to help him process his grief, but her plan backfires when animal control officers impound Riley for his dangerous behavior. The incident with Riley also destroys William’s previously congenial relationship with his neighbor, Peachie. All of these issues leave William yearning for a simpler past—a time before everything went wrong. He struggles to accept everything that has happened to him and does not want to embrace the future. To him, the future seems unpleasant since it involves his father marrying a woman William has never met, his dog being euthanized, and his once-beloved neighbor being directly responsible for his dog’s death.
William longs to return to his vision of an idealized past, but over time, he realizes that the vision he conjures up is an impossible fantasy. When he watches his interview on television, he thinks that in the past, his grandfather, father, and neighbor would have been there to share the moment with him, and Riley would have been sitting at his feet. It is this unified past that he wants to return to. However, this vision could never have happened: He did not get Riley until after his parents’ divorce and his grandfather’s death, so the timelines don’t match up. If he wants to include Riley in his vision of a happy life, he is necessarily excluding his grandfather.
Once William accepts the changes in his life, he is able to work toward a future that he will be satisfied with even if it looks different from the past. He still wishes Riley could come and live with him again, but he knows it is not possible because he cannot guarantee that Riley will never chase Peachie’s horse or another animal. William works hard to save Riley’s life even though Riley’s future will not be with him. William’s love for his dog allows him to realize that while the past is gone forever, the future is nevertheless worth fighting for. By the end of the novel, William starts to consider that the changes in his life might be positive. He realizes that he likes Stephen, his mother’s new boyfriend, and he knows that Riley is living a happy life in Texas. William agrees to fill in the pond that he started building with his grandfather, which demonstrates his character growth and his journey of working through his grief and accepting the changes in his life.
Seeing Both Sides of an Argument
The Summer of Riley is not a straightforward novel in which some characters are right and others are wrong. The story centers around the question of whether a dog should be euthanized after chasing a horse, and this is a difficult debate that has no simple answer: William is very attached to Riley and wants to save the dog’s life, so he struggles to see the opposing side of the argument because the issue is so intensely emotional for him. William tends to assume that anyone with a different perspective from his is being deliberately unkind and unfair. As far as William is concerned, Riley did not do any harm when he chased the Sultan. He did not bite the horse, and William thinks Riley just wanted to play. So, William sees euthanasia as needlessly punitive and cruel. He is eventually willing to accept that Riley cannot return to his community, even if he does not die. That means that if he were relocated somewhere else, his continued existence would never put the Sultan in danger. Other people in town support William’s argument on the basis that it is wrong to kill animals.
On the other side of the debate, people like Peachie make similarly compelling points. Peachie will do whatever she can to keep her horse safe, and she has the law on her side. Ellis, who supports Peachie, has personal trauma surrounding dogs, and he vindictively hopes Riley will die to help assuage his guilt over his cat’s death. Some community members believe that it is dangerous to allow dogs that chase livestock to live, as there have been previous incidents in town that have resulted in the deaths of animals and people. So, they believe that passing Riley on to another community would be unfair to his new owners, who might encounter similar problems.
To William, saving Riley is of the utmost importance, but he struggles to deal with everyone’s opinions on the case, especially since popular opinion is against him. Eventually, William is able to find a workable solution by sending Riley to Texas to work at an airport. Riley’s new owner is aware of his history and is able to make use of the fact that he likes to chase other animals. Finally, William accepts that Peachie is not trying to hurt him; she cares about her horse, just like he cares about Riley. While William does make some progress on this score, he is never fully able to see the other side of the argument: He deliberately uses Ellis’s trauma against him to hurt him. William isn’t mature enough to extend compassion to a boy who has been repeatedly harmed by dogs; instead, he perceives Ellis’s fear as vindictiveness.
The Power of Perseverance
The Summer of Riley is all about William’s efforts to save his dog, Riley, from being euthanized. William originally gets Riley to cope with his grief after his grandfather’s death, so losing his dog hits him hard. When Riley chases Peachie’s horse, William immediately tries to convince everyone (including his mother, Peachie, and Grace) that Riley did not do anything wrong. He assures them that Riley just wanted to play and that the incident “was a onetime thing” (39). He claims he will be able to better control Riley in the future. When it turns out that he cannot control his dog, and when Riley tries to attack the Sultan again, Peachie calls animal control. William fights for his dog by trying to physically prevent his father from giving Riley over to animal control.
Though William’s actions are sometimes misguided, he loves Riley and is very determined to protect him. As an 11-year-old, William has limited power to enact change. Despite his limitations, he does everything he can to save Riley’s life. He tries to persuade Peachie to drop her complaint, but he fails. He and Grace print out flyers and petitions to convince people that Riley should live, and William is even willing to deal with many people’s unkind comments about his dog. He truly believes that he is doing the right thing. William continues to fight to save Riley even after he knows for certain that he can never have Riley back, which speaks to his love for his dog and his selflessness. When adults tell William that he can do nothing but wait, he refuses to listen, working hard every day to convince the commissioners to spare Riley’s life.
The Summer of Riley teaches young readers that even when a situation seems difficult or hopeless, they have the power to change things for the better. Determination, love, and hard work can make a difference, even when adults say otherwise. At the very last minute, William ends up finding a man who is willing to adopt Riley and train him to be a working dog—this happens after the commissioners have decided to euthanize Riley. William never gives up, even when all hope seems to be lost, and he succeeds in saving his friend. Though William does not get his dog back, he has the satisfaction of knowing that he saved Riley from the brink of death and gave him another chance at happiness.
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