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MADCAP DOGS

REVEALING THEIR TRUE GLORY

An entertaining assortment of stories that pay tribute to a bevy of endearing pups.

Awards & Accolades

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Chandler’s YA collection of 14 short stories depicts the interactions between humans and dogs.

Although most of the stories collected here have human narrators, the opener, “Ain’t No Fence High Enough,” is narrated by a beautiful young greyhound, Freebie, who escapes from a cruel, abusive owner. Readers meet Freebie as he’s running what will be his last race. As he struggles to move up the line of racing hounds, he feels the pain and exertion: “Now my feet hurt all the time and my head feels lighter than a butterfly. Maybe my trainer is doping me by putting stuff in my food or in the water I drink.” After he finishes in fourth place, he faces an even more dire fate; so begins an adventure in which the clever greyhound has his chance to shine. Next up is “For Want of a Wag,” a tale about a 15-year-old girl, Wanda, who’s training her sheepdog-collie mix, Ruffian, for an agility competition. During the lead-up to the event, Wanda applies for a summer job with an abrasive manager, Mr. Quibble, who rejects her application because she lacks work experience. But at the agility competition, it’s Wanda who teaches Mr. Quibble a lesson in compassion, both in his relationship to his dog and in his treatment of humans. Several stories later, Freebie narrates a sequel to the opening entry (“Bark Is a 4-Letter Word”), this time recounting two love stories, one between two humans and the other between their respective pups. He and the kind owner who adopted him in the opening story are walking down the street when Freebie meets Peaches, a labradoodle, who immediately steals his heart, inspiring him to stand up to an aggressive Rottweiler in the dog park to show Peaches that he’s not a wimp—but relationship issues between the humans may compromise the canines’ romance. The collection highlights the antics of a wide variety of pooches—playful toy dogs, hunting dogs, and one little Boston terrier who has identity issues. A courageous Dalmatian firehouse dog narrates the anthology’s finale, “Perils of the Flame,” recounting a life-threatening adventure that makes him a town hero.

Chandler’s prose is pleasantly conversational, light on linguistic complexity, and easily accessible for the early range of YA readers. Through a mixture of adventure, humor, and a touch of pathos (as in the case of Harlequin, a depressed 150-pound Great Dane who left home believing his family no longer wanted him), the dogs will win over readers completely; they’re the innocent, albeit frequently rambunctious, conveyers of important lessons in love, loyalty, and compassion. In more than one story, they’re also detectives and lifesavers. In others, their behavior exposes the human frailties and insecurities hiding behind pompous exteriors. “Clandestine Caper” is entirely about the individual humans on a mission to rescue dogs from a testing laboratory, and although readers don’t get to know the canines directly, the piece shines a bright light on the issue of unethical treatment of laboratory dogs. With intermittent tense moments that keep the pages turning, the stories are upbeat and, happily, do not require an accompanying box of tissues.

An entertaining assortment of stories that pay tribute to a bevy of endearing pups.

Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2024

ISBN: 9798877311398

Page Count: 176

Publisher: Self

Review Posted Online: March 26, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024

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THE ONLY GIRL IN TOWN

A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution.

A teenage girl finds herself alone after everyone else in her town mysteriously disappears, leaving her scrambling to figure out how to find them all.

One late summer day, everybody in July Fielding’s town disappears. She is left to piece together what happened, following a series of cryptic signs she finds around town urging her to “GET THEM BACK.” The narrative moves back and forth between July’s present and the events of the summer before, when her relationship with her best friend, cross-country team co-captain Sydney, starts to fracture due to a combination of jealousy over July’s new relationship with a cute boy called Sam and sweet up-and-coming freshman Ella’s threatening to overtake Syd’s status as star of the track team. The team members participate in a ritual in which they jump off a cliff into the rocky waters below at the end of their Friday practice runs. Though Ella is reluctant, Syd pressures her to jump. Short, frenetically paced sections move the story along quickly, and there is much foreshadowing pointing to something terrible that occurred at the end of that summer, which may be the key to July’s current predicament, but there is much misdirection too. Ultimately this is a story without enough setup to make the turn the book takes in the end feel fully developed or earned. All characters read white.

A high-concept premise that falls short in its execution. (Fiction. 14-18)

Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023

ISBN: 9780593327173

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: July 27, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023

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PROMISE BOYS

Breathtakingly complex and intriguing.

When someone murders the renowned founder of an oppressively rigorous Washington, D.C., school, three students—all boys of color—emerge as prime suspects.

The police haul in a trio of Urban Promise Prep students, two Black and one Salvadoran, for questioning following the murder of Principal Kenneth Moore. For J.B. Williamson, Urban Promise’s strict rules and regulations are suffocating, but his luck seems to turn when he finally makes a tentative move forward with his crush. Jokester Trey Jackson, meanwhile, does his best to ensure his place in the big basketball game, and no one—not even his tough-as-nails Uncle T—can stop him. Ramón Zambrano dreams of one day owning a restaurant. In the meantime, he gets by hustling pupusas at school and refusing to succumb to pressure from his beloved cousin César, the feared leader of the Dioses del Humo gang. At Urban Promise, one false move can cost a college-bound future. Unfortunately, all three boys engaged in public spats with Principal Moore before his death; to clear their names, they must investigate and uncover the killer’s identity. In a masterful use of multiple points of view from both the main protagonists and secondary characters, Brooks weaves a tale of intrigue, doubt, and hearsay with ease, doling out crucial tidbits and clues. Each gradual reveal prods readers to reconsider and reassess. Featuring a sharp examination of systemic inequality in urban schools and Black and Latine boyhood, this novel delivers in spades.

Breathtakingly complex and intriguing. (Mystery. 14-18)

Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-250-86697-4

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022

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