FROM WAGS TO RICHES

A little Yorkie’s determination to join a compassionate family sparks comic chaos in this novel.

Wags, aka “Dog #1827,” is an inmate of the secret puppy mill run by money-hungry Cranky Franky Cruikshank. Seizing an opportunity for freedom, she ends up in the loving arms of the Tiggywiggle family. Even the clan’s patriarch, supposed canine hater Billy, begins to come around when her calming presence stops his thunderous nightly snoring. Wags’ liberty is short-lived when Franky reclaims her to fulfill his plan to breed her as a lucrative source for champion puppies. (The dogs in the puppy mill mourn her return, because if “Wags couldn’t make it out for good, they all wondered if there was any hope for themselves.”) In the satisfying, amusing wrap-up, the villains get their comeuppance, and there is a happy ending for Wags, Franky’s seemingly unredeemable nephew Craig, and others. In her preface, Miller reveals how she was inspired by her own beloved rescue dogs and offers information about the responsibilities of canine ownership, but there’s nothing pedantic about this tale for readers of middle school age and up. It is lively, humorous, and lightly satiric. Wealthy Billy, whose real name is Maxibillion, is the head of a canine food empire and the reluctant host of the annual “Woofstock” dog lovers’ jamboree; the police chief has a drug-sniffing Chihuahua; Felonious Hunk is a piano-playing bulldog; and Franky, a Fix Network fan, and his social-climbing wife are co-owners of Fagin’s Cars for the Stars. The author’s descriptive scene-setting is a frequent pleasure: “The twilight of early evening descended on the prairie. A crescent moon and faint stars began to glitter in the sky….Busy flying insects went about their business with gusto. Occasionally a fish jumping in the lake beyond the house rumpled the waters, and night birds squawked their presence.” Another plus is the empathy Miller conveys for both canines and kindly humans. Craig’s redemption, for instance, and Billy’s love for the members of his family (and their affection for him) are genuinely touching. Both elements balance a liberal use of puns and kookiness that could otherwise sink into preciousness.

Dog lovers will enjoy the humor and heart in this tale of canine resourcefulness.