An entertaining, sometimes-dramatic glimpse into the life of a search-and-rescue dog.
In Troy’s middle-grade series entry, a trained service dog has adventures with his owner.
Dylan is a cocker spaniel whose owner, Casey, works hard to train him as a search-and-rescue dog. Dylan is smaller than typical animals in the field, but he’s smart and has an intuitive relationship with Casey. Dylan attends “Dream Big K-9 Academy,” where he’s trained by Roger, the academy’s owner. Sumo, Casey’s best friend, is a social media guru who promotes Dylan online to a growing fandom called “Dylan’s Dog Squad”: “ ‘Look this way, Dylan,’ yelled Sumo, taking the picture. ‘We’ve got to keep Dylan’s Dog Squad informed. Your fans want to see you.’ ” Soon, Dylan’s intuitive abilities are needed to find a dog named Lily in a practice search on Catalina Island. Although another dog-in-training is distracted by a skunk, causing chaos, Dylan saves the day. A promotional event at an ice cream shop turns into a free-for-all when Sumo accidentally promotes free ice cream in a social media post. Despite all the humorous antics, Dylan also accomplishes serious rescues, as when he finds a missing 6-year-old orphan named Luca. Troy uses italics to denote Dylan’s thoughts in one-sided pseudo-conversations with Casey throughout the book, which effectively gives Dylan a relatable, humanlike personality. One example shows Dylan’s hesitancy getting on a seesaw: “ ‘You’ve done the seesaw lots of times in Agility class.’ Casey gently turned Dylan’s muzzle toward him. ‘What’s the big deal?’ The seesaw is scary. It moves up and down.” Troy also employs occasional moments of humor that will appeal to the book’s young target audience: “Trotting behind Roger, Dylan studied the backs of his ragged tennis shoes. It would be so easy to nip your ankles.”
An entertaining, sometimes-dramatic glimpse into the life of a search-and-rescue dog.Pub Date: March 30, 2022
ISBN: 979-8442511635
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Independently Published
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
A deeply imaginative journey that puts the “cat” in cathartic.
A loyal black kitten’s boy is under supernatural attack.
Eleven-month-old Nimbus loves Fletcher, the boy who nursed her back to health following life-threatening injuries. When Fletcher becomes curious about a strange jar and opens it, releasing a terrible goblin, loyal Nim protects Fletcher, taking heavy damage in the process. But Fletcher’s aunt, who’s caring for him over spring break, believes Nim attacked Fletcher and dumps her far from home. Rhett, a stylish rat with star quality, befriends injured Nim and leads her to a witch’s house. While the witch cares for Nim, the witch’s cats (maternal Fern, bookish Rochester, standoffish Bianca, and openly hostile Abraxas) teach Nim important cat skills. She also discovers she has a supernatural ability: In destroying one eye of the nightmare demon in the fight to protect Fletcher, Nim gained its “dream sight.” But she also learns it might come back for Fletcher, who no longer has Nim to protect him, posing a time-sensitive, high-stakes threat. Even though the witch’s home is nice and magic itself seems to be telling her to stay put, Nim wants to find a way back to Fletcher. As a hero, Nimbus is as gritty and determined as she is adorable. Tear-jerker moments explore pet abandonment—readers may want their own pets on hand to hug—all the way through the magical, action-packed finale. Fletcher and the witch read white.
A deeply imaginative journey that puts the “cat” in cathartic. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780062680372
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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