Book review: Just a Dog

I read a lovely book yesterday, called "Just a Dog", by Michael Gerard Bauer.
It is a kids book, suitable for kids in year five and six up.

The author also wrote the hilarious "Don't Call Me Ishmael", a very very funny book for teenagers about a boy who just doesn't fit in.

This one is not so funny. The dog in the story, Mr Mosely, is not just a dog.

The story is told by a boy named Corey. Each chapter tells a different story from the life of the family dog. Corey went with his mum and dad to Uncle Gavin's house to choose a puppy from the litter born to Madonna, a pure bred dalmatian whose progeny is not so pure.
Corey was only little at the time, and he chose a shy, withdrawn and quiet little puppy who was mostly white, hence the name Mr Mosely (Corey couldn't say mostly). Even though the pup is little, he has enormous feet and it doesn't take him long to grow into them.

For a while the family is happy. But then after two sisters are born, the dad loses his job and begins to suspect the mum of being unfaithful.
Things are very tense, and Corey is very aware of the discord in the relationships around him. But Mr Mosely is a faithful dog. He listens to Dad's private troubles, is always waiting ready to play with Corey after school, valiantly defends Amelia from what he perceives to be a viscous attack by the Pink Panther and diffuses many troubling situations just by being his comic self.

The way the story is narrated you can tell something bad is going to happen to Mr Mosely. In fact, right from the start we are pretty sure that something bad already has and that the narrator is looking back to happier times as a way to get over his grief.

I shed a tear reading this book, which was embarrassing as I was reading it during a staff meeting, but I am glad to say it has a positive ending, with the family striving to stay together.

I highly recommend this book for any lovers of dogs.

Just found a video about it on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ij-WXel5k8

book review: The Naming of Tishkin Silk

The naming of Tishkin Silk by Glenda Millard is another tear-jerker. In Griffin's family everything has been turned upside down by grief. Griffin has to attend school for the first time because his mother, who has home-schooled him thus far, has not come home after the birth of his little sister. It is not a happy experience for him, but he meets a friend, Layla, while investigating the ditchwater on the way home. This is such a sad story, but a happy one too. Layla helps Griffin to understand what is happening to the family and they work out a way to celebrate Tishkin and move on through the grieving process. This would be a good book for kids who have experienced loss to read, and I would recommend it for ages 11 up.

I have also read Glenda Millard's A small free kiss in the dark. This was much darker, kind of like Cormac McCarthy's The road  for children. It made me think of how little we need to survive, and how much hope plays a part in keeping us alive. It was about how people who have nothing left at all can overcome the bleakest of situations if they team up and love each other. I especially liked the part in this book where the children take refuge in the state library...can you think of a better place to shelter? I really don't like reading post-apocalyptic fiction, or even stories set in war-ravaged countries. I think I overdosed on them as a teenager. A small free kiss was wonderfully written, but because of its harrowing subject matter should really only be read by older teenagers.

Book review: Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

This is a book I have been meaning to read for a while. Whenever a book is made into a movie, I feel honour bound to read the book first. Otherwise I would probably never bother reading the book.
PRN won a Newberry medal for this book, so I thought it would be a nice story. I wasn't disappointed. The book is about a boy named Marty who reminded me a lot of Jesse in Bridge to Terabithia. Marty is eleven, has two younger siblings, has a family who are short of cash and seem very busy just making ends meet. Both stories are set in a poor rural area. And like BTT, this story is a real tear-jerker. The characters in Shiloh speak in West Virginia slang, which takes some getting used to.
A scruffy, underfed beagle follows Marty home one day. Marty knows who owns it, but can't bear the thought of returning the dog to a home where it is unloved and unappreciated. He knows the owner, Judd,  has already shot one of his dogs in the head. Marty hides the dog, who he names Shiloh, in a run up behind his house. He needs to lie to his parents and steal food to feed it. Shiloh is the perfect pet, being fully appreciative of Marty's efforts. Sadly, one night another dog gets in to Shiloh's run and savages him. Marty has no choice but to reveal Shiloh and take him to the local doctor who stitches him up. The whole family end up falling in love with the pup.
When Shiloh's owner finds out, Marty has to work out a plan to buy Shiloh. He sets out on his own to bargain with the red neck and finds him armed and dangerous.
I enjoyed reading this book. I liked the way it dealt with the issue of telling the truth. Is it always the right thing to tell the truth? What if telling the truth results in loss of life? Is it worth it to lie to save someone you love? I also really liked Marty who was such an animal lover that he couldn't eat his dinner unless he knew it had died quickly.
Shiloh is recommended for lovers of sad dog stories, aged ten up.

book review: A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd

This is a very sad book.  I felt really sorry for the Shell, a motherless sixteen year old who spends her life in a small town looking after her younger siblings. I wanted to take her aside and give her some words of wisdom, as she seemed to be alone in the world. She doesn't really know what she wants or who she is, and when she got mixed up with lad-about-town Declan I knew that no good would come of it.
Shell decides she believes in God again after a new priest comes to the town but her belief doesn't help her. She is haunted by her mother, her father is lost in his grief and she is too ashamed or maybe too proud to ask for help when she really needs it.
This book is set in Ireland, and would be suitable for older teenagers, but it really does make harrowing reading. A cautionary tale?

http://www.amazon.com/Swift-Pure-Cry-Siobhan-Dowd/dp/0385751087