Night of the Howling Dogs (Hardcover)

by Graham Salisbury (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Senior patrol leader of his Hilo, Hawaii, scout troop, eighth-grader Dylan looks forward to camping on the coast in the shadow of a volcano. But when he hears that Louie, a tough, troubled kid, will be joining the scouts on the trip, Dylan remembers when their paths crossed once before, and his anticipation turns to dread. Dylan's sense of foreboding is justified tenfold. After a difficult trek to their campsite, an earthquake jolts the ground and shakes boulders down from the cliff. Then a tsunami engulfs the area. Even in the midst of disaster, Dylan finds that support can come from unexpected directions. A strong sense of place informs the plot as well as the setting of this convincing story. In an unusually compelling author's note, Salisbury writes of camping on the site of the 1975 natural disaster at Halape with his cousin, who lived through it as a Boy Scout. Inspired by that earthquake and tsunami, this vivid adventure soon strips away every vestige of normality, leaving characters dependent on their wits, their skills, and the mysterious spirits of land and sea for their survival. Salisbury weaves Hawaiian legend into the modern-day narrative to create a haunting, unusual novel that will practically booktalk itself. Phelan, Carolyn

Review
Starred Review, Booklist, August 1, 2007:
"Salisbury weaves Hawaiian legend into the modern-day narrative to create a haunting, unusual novel that will practically booktalk itself."
—Carolyn Phelan


From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books (August 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385731221
• ISBN-13: 978-0385731225
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #336,503 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Page-turning Thriller, August 22, 2007

By	Jane Murphy Romjue (Honolulu, Hawaii) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Night of the Howling Dogs: A Page-turning Thriller

In his newest novel, Night of the Howling Dogs, popular writer Graham Salisbury masterfully combines the atmosphere of superstition and spooky stories around the fire at Camp Halape, with Hawaiian tales and legends of the Big Island locale, and the almost spiritual setting (the mana of place so important in Hawaiian mythology) on the slope of an active volcano in a near "perfect storm" to build suspense and create a thriller based on a true story. Night of the Howling Dogs is certainly a new direction for Graham Salisbury. Whereas his previous novels have focused primarily on character, this book focuses on the natural setting and survival of characters in conflict with the elements of nature. This time the place and the people rather than the period of history (World War II, for example, in Under the Blood-Red Sun and Eyes of the Emperor) drive the action. The novel's plot is tightly structured. The conflict in the opening pages of the story pits narrator Dylan and the other "good guys" against menacing and mysterious "Mr. Bad Man" Louie and the challenge of camping in a remote area on the side of volcano Moana Loa the Big Island of Hawaii. The geological instability of the natural setting and the growing possibility of impending disaster become the focus barely one third of the way into the novel.

Salisbury seamlessly blends the elements of plot with supernatural aspects of the setting--such as tales of the night marchers, the importance to the Hawaiians of akua, or good spirits associated with an area, as well as the importance of sharks as protectors to those who feed and befriend them. Fred, the shark with the bullet hole in his fin, turns out to be not a danger or threat to the boys but more of an amakua, or family god who can help those in trouble (138). The title's reference to the howling dogs ties in with the Hawaiian legend of Pele, who "was once a goddess, an akua" and who now "has a home up in Kilauea, at the volcano, right above where we are now," as Masa tells the group of Scouts around the campfire (97). It seems Pele often appears as a small white dog, just like the one Dylan hears first then sees high up on the cliff above the campsite during the night. To add to the mystery, Masa warns the group, "If you see that small white dog, something's going to happen" (99).

Many aspects of the novel are two-sided: the lava which can be smooth pahoehoe or aa like "shattered glass"; the location at Halape where the action occurs is first "a paradise" and later "A Watery Grave"; initially the description of the boys' camp near "a thick green coconut grove curved around a white sand beach" beyond which "a sky blue ocean [sits] smooth and calm" seems idyllic, but later on, the surging sea destroys virtually all of this peaceful setting; the "crack "where the boys enjoy swimming is both "dark down there" yet "where the sun shined on it you could see shadows under every rock and pebble on the bottom" (44). Even characters have both light and dark sides: Louie first creates tension among the members of the group, but it is he who ultimately pulls the team together in their battle to survive.

The novel is filled with foreshadowing, too. Like the ill-advised choices of the solitary man on the trail in Jack London's famous "To Build a Fire," actions of several of the campers are "stupid," and Salisbury's readers wait to see when the stupid ones will regret their folly. From Tad's lack of caution in not staying with his buddy Zach, to Dylan's "I was stupid" not to bring a hat for protection against the sun, to Mike and Louie's pitching their tent too close to the high water mark, it seems nearly every member of the group is sufficiently careless to warrant disaster.

In Night of the Howling Dogs, Salisbury again emphasizes positive character values. He uses the natural disaster to bring together characters--at least for a while. When Dylan pleas with Louie for his glasses, "unless you want to carry me home because I can't hike out of here without [my glasses]," Mr. Bad Man Louis, sasses back "Hoo, sissy-boy, I going to join Girl Scouts before I carry you" (85). Later when disaster hits, ironically Louis ends up carrying several different characters when his help is needed. Salisbury also works in the importance of respect and the positive aspects of Scouting even though it may not always be perceived as the "in" thing for young teens to do; as Mr. Bellows says, "I know you get teased for it [Scouting] at school" (27).

Because the characters range in age from eleven-year-old Tad (and his mommy-packed back pack) to Louie, the independent, mysterious fifteen year old who wears "a leather cord with a shark's tooth and silver skull hanging from it" (11-12), this book will appeal to middle school readers as well as to young adults. I will certainly recommend this book to my 7th graders, especially those who enjoy adventure and suspense. The suspense kept me turning pages, too!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Winner from Graham Salisbury, March 1, 2008

By	Terry Pierce "Children's Author" (Ridgecrest, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Graham Salisbury has done it again with Night of the Howling Dogs. He's taken an actual event (the 1975 7.2 earthquake, epicenter Halape) and created a fiction story based on the horror that a Boy Scout Troop experienced during the quake and subsequent tsunami.

Salisbury's knowledge of Hawaii and his "nature-based" writing style are perfect for telling the story of Dylan (scout leader) and Louie (a hardened street kid with a rough past)and how they survive the aftermath of Pele's anger; saving their fellow scouts, leaders and a group of paniolos (Hawaiian cowboys) who were also camping there.

Having been to this region of the Big Island, I can say that the descriptions are not only accurate, but they put you there, in the moment, as are the characters. An excellent read!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, December 12, 2007

By	TeensReadToo.com "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

Casey is the Senior Patrol leader of his Boy Scout troop, and they are about to hike and stay in a remote area in their native land of Hawaii. This place had been almost completely wiped out from a long-ago volcanic eruption, but there is a small oasis of quiet beauty in the area that remained. That's where the boys will be camping.

Casey is not excited when a tough boy named Louie shows up. He's not a Scout, but his Scoutmaster invited him along to see if he would be interested in joining. He makes Casey uncomfortable, but there's nothing he can do about it. And Casey only thinks that having Louie on his case constantly is the biggest thing he has to worry about on that trip.

Until it hits. "It" is an actual event that happened in this same area in 1975. An earthquake, which causes part of the land to collapse into the ocean, and that also causes a tsunami that covers the sunken land with water beyond belief. Palm trees, under which some of his troop had been sleeping, stand in the middle of the ocean. He doesn't know where anyone is, if they are okay, or if he will survive himself.

Graham Salisbury's cousin was a Scout who happened to be on just such a trip with his troop when the historical tsunami hit. He took the author to the land many years later. The detailed descriptions of the events and setting could only be told by an excellent storyteller and someone who truly experienced this unbelievable event. This is a great adventure of survival and a coming-of-age story.

Reviewed by: Dianna Geers