Sounder, the great coon dog, has a voice louder than any dog's in the whole countryside. But the winter's hunting gets worse and Sounder's master, a poor black share cropper, is forced to steal a ham to feed his starving family. When the sheriff comes to take the man away, Sounder is silenced by a shotgun wound and crawls off into the night. The boy, who loves both his father and the dog, must learn to bear the lonely weight of their absence and accept the different pain and knowledge brought by each one's return.
