I would like to start this last, final blog off by saying that if you're a dog person, or an animal person in general you'll love this book. It blends humor action tenderness and caring so very well into just one novel. To give you an overview this book is about a dog named Bella who is found by her owner living with cats when she was a puppy. Her owner, Lucas, takes her in and raises her. However there is a phycotic animal control employee who constantly is trying to catch Bella because he believes she is a pit bull which is a banned breed in Denver. Eventually Lucas decides to send Bella to a foster home away from Denver until he can move away from the city. Bella doesn't understand why Lucas is leaving her so she decides to trek thousands of miles to find her way back to her owner. Along the way she has many adventures including becoming friends with a mountain lion and become friends with a heroin addict/veteran. I don't want to spoil the ending in case whoever is reading this wants to read this book but I will say this: the ending is amazing and feels very cinematic.
Now my opinion: I LOVED this book it was really good due to how the book was written. It kept a humorous pace by reading the book from the perspective of the dog but was also able to touch on serious topics such as alcoholism, drugs, and physical abuse. There was a scene in the book where a woman named Silvia was being attacked by her boyfriend and the dogs stepped in to fight off the boyfriend. I just think this goes to show just how much of a loving impact dogs have on peoples lives. Also the way the book was written gave a sense of warmth when encountering the scary parts of life. In this one quote Bella says: "Upon his return, he would have one of his pencils and would seem happy, but only for a little while." (281). Its comforting to see the perspective of a dog when facing the use of hard drugs. Bella also gave a perspective on abuse and how a strong companionship is always a good thing to have: "Sylvia's distress and Mike's fury galvanized me and now I barked, too, and Dutch lunged, snapping his jaws in the air right in front of Mike's pants. Mike let go of Sylvia and fell back, knocking over a chair. We both kept barking." (237).
This book seemed to entrance me as I couldn't find myself to put it down. It had a really solid plot that always kept you interested in the book. The characters were really developed to the next level where you felt connected to them. This book was amazing and I feel that it should be read by the masses as that is what it deserves. Read this book or miss out on a great read at your own peril.
Would this be appropriate for a middle school kid?
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