Following Atticus by Tom Ryan

Following Atticus by Tom Ryan

Set against the backdrop of New Hampshire's White Mountains, a man and a dog embark on the challenge of a lifetime in this true story of love, loss, and the resilience of the human and animal spirit. 

After a close friend died of cancer, middle-aged, overweight, acrophobic newspaperman Tom Ryan decided to pay tribute to her in a most unorthodox manner. Ryan and his friend, miniature schnauzer Atticus M. Finch, would attempt to climb all forty-eight of New Hampshire's four-thousand-foot peaks twice in one winter while raising money for charity. It was an adventure of a lifetime, leading them across hundreds of miles and deep into an enchanting but dangerous winter wonderland. At the heart of the amazing journey was the extraordinary relationship they shared, one that blurred the line between man and dog.

Following Atticus is an unforgettable true saga of adventure, friendship, and the unlikeliest of family, as one remarkable animal opens the eyes and heart of a tough-as-nails newspaperman to the world's beauty and its possibilities.

Tom Ryan is the award-winning author of several critically praised children's books. He's been nominated for the White Pine Award, the Ann Connor Brimer Award, and the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award, among others. Keep This to Yourself, his teenage mystery, won the ITW Thriller Award for Best Young Thriller in 2020, as well as the Arthur Ellis Award for Best YA Crime Novel in 2020. In 2013, 2014, and 2020, two of his works were recognized by the Junior Library Guild, and three of his young adult novels, Way to Go, Tag Along, and Keep This to Yourself, were chosen for the ALA Rainbow List. He was a Young Adult Fiction Lambda Literary Fellow in 2017. In Nova Scotia, Tom, his husband, and their dog live.