Tag Archives: dogs

Review: Dog Trouble by Kristin Varner

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Graphic Novel or Adaptation, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , , ,
Dog Trouble by Kristin Varner

Dog Trouble
Kristin Varner
First Second
Published October 29, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Dog Trouble

From the author of Horse Trouble comes a graphic novel perfect for fans of PAWS and Allergic!

Ash is a good kid at heart. But his grades are slipping, and when he gets caught vandalizing an old building, it’s the last straw. It’s decided: Ash will spend some time away from the city, at his dad’s place on Ferncliff Island.

It’s bad enough that Ash has no friends on the island (just an annoying little stepsister), but his parents are also making him do community service! He volunteers at the local animal shelter, even though he’s not really a dog person. Dogs slobber! They smell! And the dogs at the shelter bark, bark, and bark. But as Ash bonds with the dogs―especially Cooper, a clever, fun-loving pointer that gives sloppy kisses―he starts to see that maybe his time on Ferncliff Island isn’t a total loss.

My Review

If a book had the power to make me a dog person, this one would probably do it! (I don’t hate dogs, but I’m solidly a cat person.)

The story follows Ash, a boy who must spend his summer volunteering at an animal shelter after getting into trouble with some friends. At the start of many of the chapters, a dog profile appears, introducing readers to a dog that will appear later in the story and giving some information about its breed and personality. Some terms related to the care of animals appear in bold in the text. Those are defined at the bottom of the page. I liked that format of keeping the panels focused on the story but continually making caring for animals accessible to inexperienced readers.

Ash makes a lot of mistakes, and sometimes, even when he’s doing the right things, accidents happen. I loved that his supervisor at the shelter responded calmly, acknowledged his anxiety, and helped him navigate whatever issue was at hand.

Ash also makes an unexpected friend and forms a closer bond with his stepsister than he imagined would be possible through his experience of staying with his dad for the summer. Having gone through some of the blended family challenges, I felt like the portrayal of those relationships made a lot of sense, and the evolution felt organic.

All in all, if you love dogs and/or stories about navigating family challenges or skateboarding, Dog Trouble is one story you won’t want to miss.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 9 to 12.

Representation
Ash’s parents are divorced. His stepmom and stepsister are Black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to animal abuse or trauma. (Nothing shown on scene.) One of the dogs in the book dies (off-scene). The loss is unexpected and difficult for Ash.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Walkin’ the Dog by Chris Lynch

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , ,

Walkin’ the Dog
Chris Lynch
Simon & Schuster BFYR
Published March 12, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Walkin’ the Dog

“Lynch is back and better, smarter, and funnier than ever.” —Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award Winner

A boy learns how to be a friend from man’s best friend in this funny and moving middle grade novel about humans being able to change and dogs changing us from acclaimed author Chris Lynch.

In a family of strong personalities with very strong points of view, Louis is what his mother lovingly calls “the inactivist,” someone who’d rather kick back than stand out. He only hopes he can stay under the radar when he starts high school in the fall, his first experience with public school after years of homeschooling.

But when a favor for a neighbor and his stinky canine companion unexpectedly turns into a bustling dog-walking business, Louis finds himself meeting an unprecedented number of new friends—both human and canine. Agatha, a quippy and cagey girl his age always seems to be telling two truths and a lie. Cyrus, a few years his senior, promises he’s going to show Louis how to be a better person, whether Louis wants him to or not. And then there are the misbehaving border terriers, the four (possible stolen) sausage dogs, the rest of Louis’s charges, and a mysterious white beast who appears at a certain spot at the edge of the woods.

Dogs and human alike all seem to have something they want to teach Louis, including his menacing older brother who keeps turning up everywhere. But is Louis ready to learn the lesson he needs how to stop being a lone wolf and be part of a pack?

My Review

The most surreal thing about reading this book is that the last book by Chris Lynch that I read is INEXCUSABLE, which is a pretty heavy book. So, it’s been a while since I’ve read any of his books, and this is a really different one than the last one I read.

I think my favorite part of this book is the voice it’s written in. It feels young and smart, and you can feel Louis being sneaky at different moments in what he chooses to share and not share. He’s also pretty chatty and a bit of a rambler. Sometimes, the rabbit trails drew me away from the story, but often, they revealed things that put what was happening in a new perspective.

I also appreciated that the book included a few dogs with disabilities or health problems. One dog has a wheelchair for his back legs, and another is missing one front leg. I haven’t seen that very often in other books, so it was a cool thing to include here.

The characters have a lot going on, but the story doesn’t always center around those issues. For instance, Louis’s mom is in a rehab program after a knee injury led to her addiction to painkillers. We see her only in a few scenes as Louis visits her. She appears sober in all of his memories of her at home.

As Louis builds a business walking dogs, he forges unexpected relationships with other kids and confronts some elements of his relationships with his family members. I love that the story is really framed around him walking dogs. There’s one F-bomb early in the book that seems to come out of nowhere, though. I felt like it really jumped out there without warning and without reason? So that may discourage some readers from picking up this dog story.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 to 14.

Representation
Louis’s friend Cyrus and his mother are Haitian American. A couple of the dogs he meets have disabilities.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
One F-bomb. I think there are maybe one or two other swear words.

Romance/Sexual Content
Louis may have a crush on a girl in the book. It’s not the focus of the story, and it isn’t totally clear how he feels.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Louis mentions his brother getting into a lot of fistfights in high school. He has scarring on his face that affects the way he speaks. Louis sees a dog that has died (unknown cause). Later, he sees another dog that has died, apparently from being hit by a car.

Drug Content
References to addiction to painkillers following an injury.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

Book Review and Content, Memoir, Nonfiction, , , , ,

Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem and Other Things That Happened
Allie Brosh
Gallery Books
Published October 29, 2013

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Hyperbole and a Half

From Goodreads: This is a book I wrote. Because I wrote it, I had to figure out what to put on the back cover to explain what it is. I tried to write a long, third-person summary that would imply how great the book is and also sound vaguely authoritative–like maybe someone who isn’t me wrote it–but I soon discovered that I’m not sneaky enough to pull it off convincingly. So I decided to just make a list of things that are in the book:

Pictures
Words
Stories about things that happened to me
Stories about things that happened to other people because of me
Eight billion dollars*
Stories about dogs
The secret to eternal happiness*

*These are lies. Perhaps I have underestimated my sneakiness!

My Review

This is another one of those books that I read because I needed to read it. I laughed so hard I woke my husband up. I laughed until I cackled and had tears streaming down my face. I laughed like I didn’t even know I needed to laugh until I was laughing.

The pictures are fabulous. The drawings are packed with emotion and humor. The stories are both hilarious and also such a frank exploration of what makes us human. It’s also possibly one of the best descriptions of depression that I’ve read.

It’s silly and self-deprecating and sometimes totally irreverent, but I found it to be exactly the kind of humor I needed to get me through a tough week.

If you liked FURIOUSLY HAPPY by Jenny Lawson, definitely check out HYPERBOLE AND A HALF.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Main character is white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
There is a violent goose.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. All opinions are my own.

Review: These Unlucky Stars by Gillian McDunn

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , , ,

These Unlucky Stars
Gillian McDunn
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Published March 2, 2021

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About These Unlucky Stars

From the author of CATERPILLAR SUMMER comes a new heartfelt story of a girl’s unexpected friendship that changes her forever.

Annie has always been the odd one out in her family. Her practical dad and brother just don’t understand the way she thinks. Ever since her mother left a few years ago, Annie has been reluctant to get close to anyone.
When a poor decision lands Annie in hot water, she must make amends by watching her elderly neighbor’s weird dog all summer. As Annie begins to connect with her neighbor Gloria, it becomes clear that Gloria won’t be able to live on her own for much longer. But it’s this brief and important friendship that gives Annie the confidence to let people in, and see how rich life can be when you decide to make your own luck and chart your own path to happiness.

Perfect for fans of Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Gillian McDunn has crafted another touching story that will remain in readers’ hearts.

My Review

I’ve been a fan of books by Gillian McDunn since her debut (which includes a girl fishing! Be still my heart!), so I was really excited to read THESE UNLUCKY STARS. I also tend to love intergenerational friendships and older characters who are prickly on the outside but have a heart of gold underneath that grouchy exterior. AND I love books about small southern towns. So this was pretty much a guaranteed win for me.

The book has so many great characters. From Otto, the unique dog and his protective, loyal spirit, to the BBQ owners who dote on Annie’s family like adopted grandparents, to the chatty, mischievous mayor’s son who wants to help people.

I loved the setting– the small town, the mountain landscape, and the southern expressions that appeared here and there and made me miss my family in North Carolina.

Most of all, I loved the emotional journey that Annie traveled. On page one, she’s an island of grief over the loss of her mom, and she feels trapped by bad luck. But as she’s faced again and again with opportunities to help people get ready for the town festival and is forced to work off her guilt helping Gloria, she begins to see things in new ways. She begins to come out of her shell and to heal from her grief.

Though I adore this book, there are a couple things I wish had been different. One is a spoiler, so scroll down to the end for that one, if you’re interested. The other thing is that we didn’t really get to see her dad’s reaction to the parade float she made for his shop, and I really wanted that moment. I think it would have been a cool way to resolve the issue between her and her dad over her artwork and a moment for him to show support. He does make a supportive comment, but it’s kind of quick and more really about the fact that Annie took on the job of the float, not really seeing and appreciating her work.

On the whole, though, I really enjoyed this book with its small town setting, intergenerational friendship, and tender exploration of grief and healing. I think fans of McDunn’s other books will definitely want to check this one out as well as fans of NEST by Esther Ehrlich.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
One (minor) character has mental health issues. Two men (minor characters) are married.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Annie worries that her dad may be interested in a new woman.

Spiritual Content
Annie’s mom told her she was born under an unlucky star. Annie clings to that identity and every time something bad happens, she chalks it up to inescapable bad luck. One character makes a reference to the Heavens being in charge of the living.

Violent Content
A woman falls and is injured. A boy punches the wall in anger.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of THESE UNLUCKY STARS in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.

Spoiler – the Other Reason I Struggled with These Unlucky Stars

The other thing that I struggled with in the book is that Annie learns her mom has bipolar disorder. She didn’t like the way she felt on medication and stopped taking it. Then she realized her illness and the impulsiveness it caused put her children in danger, so she left them to protect them from her.

I feel like I’ve seen that in stories a lot lately– the bipolar parent who leaves the family– and I guess I kind of hoped THESE UNLUCKY STARS would take a different approach. I also tend to struggle with books that show people not taking meds because they don’t like how they feel– not that that doesn’t happen, but I guess because I feel like it’s a reason that’s overused.

Review: Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Historical, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , ,

Paper Wishes
Lois Sepahban
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Ten year-old Manami loves her home on peaceful Bainbridge Island. Then her family and other Japanese American members of the community are forced to relocate to internment camps. Manami tries to smuggle her family’s dog, Yujiin, into the camp, but is forced to leave him behind. The foreign circumstances and grief over her lost dog cause her to stop speaking. Instead, Manami expresses herself through drawings she creates every night. She draws memories of Yujiin and writes asking him to find her family. She will only find her voice again if she can work through her guilt over losing Yujiin.

This realistic debut tackles a dark moment in US history, when in 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the incarceration of many Japanese Americans. As is so typical of the experience of a child, Manami focuses on one traumatic change—having to leave her dog behind—and this becomes representative to her of all that her family has lost and the grief they suffer. Sepahban’s story stays true to many elements of the historical account of Manzanar, an internment camp in California. While this is a heavy subject for middle readers, the tale walks a fine balance between capturing the true injustice of the camps without relaying too much for young readers to understand.

I love that an author has written something about this moment in our history. I think too often we want to forget the bleakest moments, especially in our own history. To do so leaves us vulnerable to making the same mistakes again. Certainly this story comes as a timely reminder even today, that to judge an entire group of people by the actions of a very small number of radicals, is not only tragic but terrible and wrong.

When I read Paper Wishes, it reminded me in some ways of Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. In Number the Stars, Lowry follows the story of a girl whose best friend must go into hiding because she is Jewish. While the story doesn’t delve into the true horrors of Nazi occupied Holland, it does give readers a view into those events that is child-sized, both in its simplicity and its relating of historical facts.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Manami learns that her brother has a girlfriend, and her family is unhappy about it. She wrestles with her own feelings about the relationship.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Manami learns of a riot in the camp. Her parents rush her inside and away from noises of an angry crowd. One boy has been killed. Another dies soon after. She’s largely sheltered from the actual events.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Review: Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , ,

Rain Reign
Ann M. Martin
Feiwel & Friends
Published October 7, 2014

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Rose finds comfort in two things: homonyms and her dog Rain. When a fierce storm rips through her sleepy northern town, her dog disappears. Rose enacts a plan to find her missing companion, but along the way she learns about empathy for others in her community who’ve lost homes and family in the hurricane.

It’s difficult not to compare this novel with others with a similar narrator. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime particularly came to mind. Martin’s tale is a lot more kid friendly. The plot is simpler but its characters remain complex and layered.

Through the endearing behavior of her protagonist, Martin encourages readers to develop empathy and explore a way of thinking which may be foreign to many of us. We begin to experience Rose simply as a girl who loves a dog. We see past her diagnosis into her heart, and this is the greatest triumph an author can hope to impart to her readers. This is a great story for middle or upper elementary-aged students.

Profanity and Crude Language Content
Just a couple instances of mild profanity from Rose’s father.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
None.

Drug Content
Rose’s father regularly comes home drunk. She finds it best to leave him alone when he’s in this condition, but still sometimes he says unkind things to her.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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