Underdog [Paperback]

Marilyn Sachs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1986

Lonely, confused, and in need of love in her new life with an aunt and uncle in San Francisco, a twelve-year-old orphan searches for her long-lost dog.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Readers sense Sachs's empathy for young people in The Bear's House, Veronica Ganz and her other unforgettable novels. Here we meet new people the author persuades us to laugh and cry with and sometimes scorn. Isabelle (Izzy) Cummings tells about her life when her father dies and she's rejected by the stepmothers he had married and divorced after the death of his first wife, Izzy's mother. Uncle Harry Cummings arrives to decide Izzy's future and takes her from the East to San Francisco, where his kind but reserved wife tells Izzy she will like boarding school when the next term begins, dashing the orphan's hopes of welcome into a permanent home. Izzy concentrates instead on finding the puppy, Gus, she remembers her father giving away before moving with her to New York, years earlier. The secret mission involves Izzy with strange characters in odd pockets of the city. Like lost Gus, Izzy is an "underdog," passed around instead of loved, but this isn't a sad story. The poignant moments are balanced by very funny incidents and the surprise finale is sheer delight.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6 Eleven-year-old Izzy's father dies, leaving her an orphan. Neither of her stepmothers wants to take her in, so she is sent off to San Francisco to an aunt and uncle she barely knows. When she learns of their plans to send her to boarding school, Izzy assumes that no one wants her and concentrates all of her energy toward finding Gus, a dog she vaguely remembers but loved seven years ago. Her efforts to locate Gus are convoluted, to say the least, and it strains one's credibility to imagine that an 11-year-old could have the wherewithal to follow up so many leads in her search. The characters are never really fleshed out, except for animal lover Mrs. Firestone, and although the story is told in the first person, readers learn remarkably little about Izzy. Her whining tone and obsession with finding Gus dominate the story; add to this an abrupt denouement, and the total is a book which is not up to Sachs' previous work. Try Misty and Me (Scribners, 1979) by Barbara Girion instead.Kathleen Brachmann, Highland Park Public Library, Ill.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Apple (December 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590404067
• ISBN-13: 978-0590404068
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,028,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Taylor's Book Review, June 9, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Underdog (Paperback)

While reading Underdog by: Marilyn Sachs a little girl named Izzy had lost 3 things that are very important to her.

First, Izzy once had a little black dog named Gus. They had found him when Izzy's mom had died. Izzy's dad had gave Gus away. Izzy and her dad moved after her mother died. After 7 years Izzy's dad dies and Izzy then goes to live with her auint Alice and uncle Roger. She looks for her dog. Every person she goes to gave Gus away. "What happened to Gus? Thinks Izzy. What happened to him?"

Last, izzy still goes and looks for Gus. She looks for him in the S.P.C.A. and the rest to be contiuted.

My opinion

This is a great book! I recommend it because it is a great dog book. Someone who likes dogs and likes books should read this book. It is a sad book, but not as if you were to cry book. So if you like what you heard, pick up this book and read it. Sometimes underdogs are winners, too!

By Taylor

5.0 out of 5 stars Dramatic feeling, July 27, 2000

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Underdog (Paperback)

I think this book was very dramatic in demonstrating that this dog ment alot to the girl. I read this book 3 years ago when i was in 4th grade, so i dont remember the names. I think this book had a lot of feeling for the characters and how they felt at different times. I loved it and am still trying to find it even know its out of print.