Customer Reviews

Dog Whisperer: The Rescue (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was straighting books, and came across this book. My first thought was yes, Black girl on the cover. A few pages in I learned that Emily is biracial which was even better. There aren't enough books featuring biracial protagonist. Before I started reading, I did my please let me like this book mantra. There aren't enough middle grade books let alone series featuring characters of color, but I am not going to say I like something simply because the protagonist is a person of color. I don't know if it was the mantra or not, but I really really enjoyed this book. It only took one page to know that this was going to be a very good story. 11yr Emily is having a nightmare, for the third night in a row she's drowning in the ocean. Edwards does an excellent job with this opening scene. The reader can feel Emily's fear and anxiousness. It isn't until Emily's mother wakes her up that she's able to escape the nightmare. Later that night there's a storm, and Emily can't sleep, there's something out there. Without telling her parents Emily goes out in the storm and finds a dog. The dog is in very bad shape, Emily and her parents rush him to the hospital. Emily and the dog, Zack have an unspoken connection. The two can hear each others thoughts. It's only because of their closeness that Zack is able to survive. This story moves so well and the author gives the reader a get feel of the New England setting. I loved Emily, and the fully developed relationship with her parents. The author does a wonderful job of fitting in some of Emily's question and thoughts on being adopted. It never feels forced, simply a natural fit with the story line. As is Emily being a vegetarian and the steps her parents take to support this decision. Emily's given a great best friend in Bobby. I quickly felt the love Emily and Zack had for each other. I look forward to reading more books in this series. I highly recommand this for anyone who loves animal stories.

Dog Whisperer: The Rescue is more than an animal fiction book by Nicholas Edwards. Emily has dreams of drowning night after night. Then one night she has an urge to go outside. She walks on the rocky beach behind her house finds a yellow figure. It was a dog that might not make it, but there was something different about this dog. For some reason she could feel and see what he saw and felt, and the dog, Zack, could read her mind! This is a great book for animal lovers about determination and never giving up. With her help can Zack make it

This is a kid's book and I do not normally read kid's books, but my mother picked it up for me in the book store and insisted I read it as the only thing I love more than reading, is dogs. Having ran out of historical fiction, I sat down and devoured this in just a few hours. It was really quite charming. The writing is obviously meant to appeal to the younger crowd as there is an overabundance of exclamation and question marks and the word "like" is used quite often midsentence here and there, but the story itself was sweet. The first half is about Emily rescuing a dog she finds on the rocky coast of Maine after a rough storm. After rushing the dog to the vet and having a few heart wrenching moments of fear that the dog is going to die, Emily decides to name the dog Zack and happily, he recovers. Emily and Zack develope a bond that exceeds the normal human and pet relationship and they share dreams and thoughts. They even manage to bring an old cranky neighborhood lady out of her shell. Meanwhile, Emily is also dealing with her inner issues of being adopted. Towards the end, somebody claims that Zack is their missing dog. Emily must find a way to keep her newfound friend or suffer a broken heart. There is apparently going to be a sequel and tho I don't plan on going out of my way to get it, I would read it if my mother finds it at her local bookstore.

Emily is a girl who is about 12 years old. This story is about a family who tries to save a dog that close to death. She finds him when she hears crying coming from the shore near her house after she had a dream about drowning. When she finds him her whole family starts to help. As soon as the vet office opens they rushed there and he looked at him. When they were done they had to deal with the hardest decision ever, should they put him down? You will have to read the book to find out what they decide.

I liked this book a lot. I think the author was very smart to pick a topic about a little girl around 12 who can understand how a dog is feeling and what pain he is in. I think many animal lovers would like this book because it is a great animal story. I like how the girl is having dreams about drowning when the dog is in real life. Nicholas is a amazing writer, and I hope he makes a sequel.

Emma M.
Grade 6
Ms. Kawatachi

This is a beautifully written story about the bond between humans and canines. It took me back to when I was growing up at home with our family dog. I was a shy kid. Fortunately, I was never bullied, but I often felt lonely. My dog and cat were my best friends and I really enjoyed the way the author describes the bond between a girl of this age and her dog. It was very realistic and I think a lot of young readers could relate.

Matilda Mae: The Dog Who Needed a Name

Posted 6/1/2009: Emily lives in New England with her adoptive parents, who teach at a local college. She has been with them since her adoption right after her birth. She is part black and part white and lives right next to the ocean. One night she experiences a dream about drowning, and then has the same dream for the next two nights. She awakens with the compulsion to go down to the shore and finds a large dog washed up on the rocky ground. He has been injured and has a fractured leg and lacerations. Her father takes him to the vet and they are both told that he has little chance of living, but he does recover with good nursing care and a lot of love to help him. There seems to be a telepathic bond between Emily and Zack (his new name). Mrs. Griswold is a widow who lives down the road and she seems to have a bad reputation. Zack lets Emily know that she is actually lonely and in need of a friend. She takes a chance and goes up to Mrs. Griswold's home and is surprised when she is actually pleasant.
Everything seems to be going smoothly until Zack's actual owners show up and want the dog back. They are not very nice people and Emily got the impression through Zack that they had neglected him. There is a conflict between the two men and Zack's vet and Emily and it all straightens out and Emily now can keep Zack. I have a feeling that this telepathic bond between the two will figure greatly in the rest of the series of books due out in the near future. The book is targeting the adolescent and preadolescent reading segment, but adults will enjoy it as I did.

Rescue is a very good book for younger teens and pre-teens. I would also recommend a book that teachers and kids love, ADVENTURES OF PACHELOT (Book #1 Last Voyage of the Griffin and Book #2 Fort Brokenheart) by Wendy Caszatt-Allen.

I must admit she is a friend of mine, so I am a bit biased, but movie rights have been sold and you will fall in love with Pachelot (Pach-e-low).
Enjoy !