FOREVER RIPLEY

A retired working dog protects and cares for her family until her dying breath in Hoyle’s middle-grade novel.

Retired North Carolina Fish and Wildlife Law Enforcement dog Ripley is a stalwart, loyal German shepherd who has dedicated herself to taking care of her young human, Charlie, as well as Charlie’s mom, Amelia, ever since Charlie’s father, Max, died five years ago. Sadly, Ripley can sense that she is nearing the end of her own life after she falls getting off of Charlie’s bed. The vet confirms that Ripley has osteosarcoma, devastating Charlie and her mother with the news. The two have been fairly isolated since Max’s death, and Ripley worries that her humans will not have enough support after she’s gone. As the dog and her family check items off a bucket list of the former’s favorite activities, like chasing sandpipers at the beach, they find themselves truly reckoning not only with her death, but Max’s as well. Charlie and Amelia both start to make new friends, including a boy named Nathan who is dealing with the recent loss of his mother. There is no rest for the weary—Ripley must unofficially return to duty to protect her humans from dangerous poachers who threaten the preserve where Amelia works. This tearjerking middle-grade novel is the passionate and tender fourth installment in Hoyle’s canine-centric bibliography, following Millie (2024). Written in the first person from Ripley’s point of view, the narrative roots itself in sensory details, such as the “nervous chemicals [that] tint [Charlie’s] breath” when Ripley falls and the physical strain of the family’s financial woes (“I don’t know what it is about the word money, but it always makes my girls tense and their words stiff”). Peppered throughout are Tarkela’s black-and-white digital illustrations, which are proficient but less emotionally evocative or memorable than the story itself.

An affecting emotional roller coaster chronicling a loyal dog’s last days with her human family.