Baby is a teenager in trouble, and her last chance is a foster home with a couple whose idea of fun is dog sledding. Still, it beats going to the juvenile detention center. Over time, Baby comes to love the dogs and takes naturally to sledding, but when her old boyfriend, Bobby, shows up, she can't stop herself from running off with him, accidentally taking a puppy along. In no time at all, life with Bobby goes bad and Baby has to make some hard decisions about what she's going to do.
Baby
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"New Hampshire. Cow-freaking Hampshire." It's the last place 15-year-old Baby, abandoned by her alcoholic mother again, wants to be. But her social worker tells her that this stop, with an older couple that races sled dogs, is her last chance before she ends up in a juvie home. Baby, still feeling the pain of her new tatttoo (an Asian tiger on her right butt cheek), thinks she doesn't really care what happens to her; but Mary and Fred are not average foster parents, and their life with big dogs brings balance to Baby's own existence. Baby too easily becomes a dog-racing expert, and her descent into trouble when her boyfriend arrives is predictable. But the girl's first-person voice, the backdrop, and the details (working the streets in a gargoyle costume for tourist change) work together well to set this story apart from the many in which troubled teens find solace in animals. Dobrez, Cindy
Review
* "Foster care is nothing new to fifteen-year-old Baby, but she's startled by her new placement in rural New England with Fred and Mary Potter, a quiet older couple whose main passion is the raising and racing of sled dogs. Initially resistant Baby is soon a convert to the joys of running sled dogs, and she's particularly smitten with snow-white Laika, a young bitch. When Baby's boyfriend, Bobby, comes to finally spirit her away, she finds herself taking Laika, who is increasingly unwelcome and unhappy amid Baby's aimless and shadowy existence. Monninger takes a fairly standard foster-kid plot and revivifies it through his spare and finely honed style. Baby's voice has more than a touch of Hemingway to it, yet there's a taut contemporaneousness to the combination of Baby's alienated account and the interpolated stories of dogs, especially Laika's namesake; the symbolism of Baby's canine experience is quiet and unobtrusive, with events and stories operating effectively on the manifest level as well. The New Hampshire winter cold is also a constant presence, with the season a very different force in different situations; the descriptions of dog-sledding, the sheer joy of adrenaline in the frosty air, the blur of dogs in motion, and the heady thrill of pack participation are keenly observed. Readers may not be surprised that Baby finally grows sufficiently beyond Bobby's thrall to know what's good for her, but they'll find the trip warming beneath its crisp exterior." --Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Starred Review
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too,
By TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Baby (Hardcover)
It's Baby's last chance with foster parents before she's shipped off to a juvenile detention center.
Baby may believe that meeting Bobby is the best thing that ever happened to her. But it happens when Baby's finally at a wonderful place in her life, and Bobby starts to take her away from it all. Under Bobby's influence, Baby will do just about anything, even take her foster parents, Mary and Fred's, most prized possession -- a sled dog. Her life is spiraling out of control, and drug dealings and addictions eventually lead Bobby straight behind bars. Baby is once again abandoned, this time with nothing but a pack of cigarettes to her name. What path is Baby going to take? Her new life of safety, or a life of running and sleeping on the streets, using drugs? BABY tells a great story of real life adventure. I recommend it to everyone, especially those who are interested in stories dealing with important "What if?" issues. Reviewed by: Holly
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply Splendid!,
This review is from: Baby (Hardcover)
"Baby" is simply splendid. She grabs your attention, then she grabs your emotions. State agencies, sled dogs, gargoyles and a girl very much on her own--a girl with the will and determination to make her own decisions no matter what. This story is one unique, wintry ride for both Baby and the reader. Enjoy!
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