A DOG CALLED GRK

Timothy Malt is a very ordinary 12-year-old London boy on the day he finds a small, hungry black-and-white dog. Though his busy parents plan to take the stray to the Battersea dog home, Tim’s strong sense of justice propels him on a journey to the tiny Eastern European country of Stanislavia to return Grk to young Natascha Raffifi, the daughter of the former ambassador to Great Britain. Unfortunately, evil Colonel Zinfandel has deposed the democratically elected president and taken over Stanislavia, imprisoning Natascha and her brother and killing their parents. Tim steals a military helicopter, finds the imprisoned children and, with help, escapes over the border. By turns lightly comic and cinematically adventurous, the plot zips along nicely with tongue firmly in cheek and with the resourceful young protagonist poised for more in the upcoming sequel. (Fiction. 9-12)