I just finished this great dog book. I'll give it 4 out of 6 stars (or maybe I should make that cookies). Five cookies would be "I can't wait to read it again," and six would be, "I'm soon going to have the opening paragraph tatooed on my leg." (I don't read many sixes.)
Anyway, it was recommended at a young adult book seminar I go to almost every year, and it mostly lived up to the buzz. It's about a dog handler and his German Shepherd and what they go through during a small part of the Vietnam war. Particularly well-done were the parts from the dog's point of view. Normally, I'd shy away from anything told in an animal's pov, but this is neither mushy nor hokey, and it's pretty much what you were figuring your dog was thinking anyway. ("Should I bite that guy on the nose? No? Well I could if I wanted to.") Another plus is that I didn't know anything about dogs being used during the war, so it was also interesting in that regard.
This next part might be a little bit of a spoiler, so stop here if you don't even want a hint about the ending. (Why are you still reading?) I have to admit by about page ten I had already decided that I couldn't stand it if this turned into the
kind of "classic" where the dog gets killed off to add pathos and drama to the story. And since Cynthia Kadohata is a Newberry winner for the very sad (I've heard) Kira Kira, I was wary. So I did something I never, never do. I read the last five pages first. And then I kept reading the book. I'm not saying nothing bad happens at all, but I kept reading. And I'm glad I did.
(PG-13 rating: only mild language, some violence--hey, it's war)
No comments:
Post a Comment