Rose Howard, a Protagonist to Root For

Ann M.Martin knows kids. Ann M. Martin knows dogs. And, Ann M. Martin can really tell a story. In her 2007, In A Dog's Life:Autobiography of a Stray, Squirrel, an abandoned pup, tells her tale of abuse, hunger, loneliness, and friendship. In her 2014 book, Rain Reign (Feiwel and Friends), Rose Howard, a fifth grader, straightforwardly informs the reader, "My official diagnosis is high-functioning autism, which some people call Asperger's syndrome (Do you have a diagnosis?)" 
Rose uses a whole dictionary of homophones (including her name, Rose, and her dog's Reign/rain) to tell  her story of  love,  loss. and perseverance. Rose is strong. Rose endures rabid teasing from classmates, frustration emanating from teachers, and rejection from her tormented father. Rose likes rules. Rose follows rules so much so that she is willing to give-up Rain, the one being who is always there for her. Rain helped to bridge the divide between Rose and her classmates, Rain waited every day when Rose got home from school, and Reign slept with Rose from that very first night. When Rain goes missing during the aftermath of a hurricane, Rose breaks from her routines and boldly goes beyond her comfort zone to find her dog. And that's when she discovers the truth, Rain belongs to the Henderson family. 
Grab a box of tissues, hug your dog, and cheer for Rose. Rain Reign is a winner. A great book to put on everyone’s summer reading list!

Heavy Drama Sequels

Two of my very favorite books are Dog Lost by Ingrid Lee and A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin.  Both stories are compelling page turners that cause the reader to root wildly for the horribly mistreated canines.    Both books have those "Oh No" scenes that are like a severe blow to the gut.   Recently I read Martin's  Everything for a Dog, the 2009 sequel to A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray.   It, too, is a page turner but the set-up of the story is much different.  A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray is a tragedy told by Squirrel, a cast-off pup separated from her sibling Bone.   Everything for a Dog is Bone's story, but he shares the spotlight with two other narrators -- Henry and Charlie -- boys whose stories are intertwined with Bone's in an unexpected, jarring  plot twist.   Both stories end happily, but the structure of A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray is far more statisfying than Everything for a Dog.  That said, neither book should be missed.

Ingrid Lee's 2011 book, Cat Found, is written in a similar fashion to her gripping, highly acclaimed Dog Lost, but it can't quite live up to Ann Martin's praise of the first book, ""Much more than a breathless page-turner. It's a brutally honest novel depicting the world of dogfighting in a wicked light but tempering any scenes of cruelty with an entire community of positive characters. And Lee brings together her winning, motley cast, human and animal, for a wonderfully heart-rousing ending. I loved it."  Lee's descriptions of the feral cat colony in Cat Found is accurate, but her characterizations of the many cold, heartless working class people are wooden and stereotypical.    A more accurate and engrossing read about a boy trying to do right by feral cats remains the absolutely perfect story, The Nine Lives of Travis Keating.