Good Dog (Scholastic Gold)
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
The acclaimed author of The Honest Truth delivers his most emotionally powerful novel yet.Brodie was a good dog. And good dogs go to heaven.Except Brodie can't move on. Not just yet. As wonderful as his glimpse of the afterlife is, he can't forget the boy he left behind. The boy he loved, and who loved him in return.The boy who's still in danger.So Brodie breaks the rules of heaven. He returns to Earth as a spirit. With the help of two other lost souls -- lovable pitbull Tuck and surly housecat Patsy -- he is determined to find his boy and to save him. Even if it costs him paradise. Even if he loses his eternal soul.Because it's what a good dog would do.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Animal lovers will embrace this tale of canine dedication with a twist, told from the point of view of the dog. The twist? The dog, a mutt named Brodie, has died and returned from the "in-between place" despite strong warnings not to do so in order to save his boy, Aiden, from a frightening, unspecified fate. Both hampered and helped by his ghostly state, Brodie teams up with two other spirits, terrier pal Tuck and Patsy, a rough-talking cat, to find Aiden. Brodie and Aiden's deep bond and Aiden's precarious home life are depicted through flashbacks; discussion of souls abounds as does Gemeinhart's skill for creating page-turning chases and battles a trio of evil ghostly dogs is trying to steal Brodie and Tuck's souls. Despite a somewhat jarring turn at the very end when a first-person narrator suddenly appears to help Brodie achieve his well-deserved peace, this emotionally driven fantasy about change and loss keeps its focus solidly on Brodie, credibly rendering the dog's loyalty, love, and determination to follow those instincts. Ages 8 12.
