Listen! (Hardcover)

by Stephanie S. Tolan (Author)
Key Phrases: spider stick, lake room, swim raft, Eagle Lake, Colleen Morgan, The Taming (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-8 Charley's mother died just a short time ago, and, still raw with grief, the 12-year-old is faced with a miserable summer recuperating from a car accident that has left her with a slowly healing leg. Her best friend is spending the summer at tennis camp, and her father has buried himself in work because of his own pain. Her physical terrorist insists that she starts walking so she decides to make her way around a nearby lake. The woods hold too many memories of her mother and her nature photography so she's avoided that area up till now. On her first day out, she encounters a stray dog. She names him Coyote and sets out to see if she can tame him. The girl and the dog have an almost psychic connection; Charley can feel the trauma Coyote has been through even as he helps her to heal physically as well as emotionally. Even Charley's dad opens up. This is a sweet, gentle story of healing and the strong bond that can develop between humans and animals. The lovely imagery and involving plot should appeal to more than just animal lovers. Diana Pierce, Running Brushy Middle School, Cedar Park, TX
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 4-7. The approaching summer looms bleakly over 12-year-old Charley. Her best friend has left for tennis camp, her father's 80-hour workweek ensures he never has time for her, and she still mourns the death of her mother, a nature photographer who died in a plane crash two years earlier. Charley, who is recovering from a recent car accident, is frustrated with the long hikes she must take to strengthen her injured leg. But on one such walk she meets Coyote, a shy, intelligent stray, and through the process of taming and opening her heart to the dog, Charley learns to feel again and comes to terms with her mother's death. The pacing is slow and thoughtful, the descriptions of nature are evocative, and a touch of magic realism in Charley and Coyote's relationship will charm readers who imagine their own mystical connections with pets. Pair this with Ann M. Martin's A Dog's Life (2005) for another story about a stray, a popular middle-school topic. Jennifer Hubert
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (April 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060579358
• ISBN-13: 978-0060579357
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #497,054 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars But if you tame me, then we shall need each other., July 29, 2006

By	E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Nope. Don't like dogs. Okay, that's an exaggeration. I like `em fine. I just wouldn't label myself a "dog person". I'm not the kind of gal that goes all googley-eyed over the itty bitty puppy sitting across from me on the subway or who bursts into tears at the mere mention of Old Yeller's name. As for dog books, I can take `em or leave `em. "Shiloh"? Fine, I guess. Not really my bag. "101 Dalmations"? Never read it. "Sounder"? Ditto. This is all to tell you that picking up "Listen!", by Stephanie S. Tolan did not create any special pitter patters within my little heart. Dog on cover, thought I. How nice. I felt a bit wary since Tolan was the woman who wrote, "Surviving the Applewhites", which I felt somewhat `meh' about. So consider me mind-blowingly knocked back out of my seat surprised when about roughly three pages into this book I found myself thinking, "Hey! This is good! Quite exceptional!". With so early a sense of acceptance, the fact that the book really and truly made me feel like a dog person is nothing short of miraculous. If you know a kid who loves dogs, a kid who loves cats, a kid who loves hot pink salamanders, or a kid who doesn't like any kind of animal whatsoever, this is the book to hand them.

Charlene, a.k.a. Charley hasn't had it easy lately. A year or two ago her mother died when she left to photograph the Amazon jungle. Then, a couple months ago, Charley was involved in a horrible car accident that rendered one of her legs in need of major reconstruction and physical therapy. Charley would prefer to stay indoors all the time if she could, but her father goads her into taking a walk one day just to prove that she can. En route, she sees something that bowls her over. A dog. A wild dog that's been living in the woods, but a dog just the same. Turns out he's a stray that has obviously suffered some abuse in the past and doesn't trust any humans. Still, the dog is sweet, Charley can see that, and suddenly she has a purpose in life. She's going to tame him. She's going to tame Coyote (his new name). And while the process of taming is never easy and often deeply frustrating, Charley proves to be up to the challenge of getting someone to love her and trust her with their safety.

Recently a whole slew of children's literature magazines have been lamenting the fact that the publishing world has been turning its attention almost entirely towards "middle grade fiction". You know. Harry Potter-type fantasies and books averaging out at 600 pages plus. With that in the foreground of my mind I've been making a special effort to seek out any and all books that might appeal to those kids that don't get excited by the prospect of reading a phone book-sized tome. In such a light as this, "Listen!", is the answer to my prayers. First of all, there's the fact that kids will actually like it. Really really like it. Credit where credit's due, Tolan is infinitely readable. In "Listen!", we've also some pretty fabulous writing on hand as well. This is a book all about relationships. The one between Charley and Coyote, Charley and her mother's memory, Charley and her father, Charley and her friend Amy... and so on. Every person in the book, every character it seems, has a heart and a head and an independent mind. This is a book free of cliches and overdone ideas. It's fresh, and that's something the kids reading it are going to appreciate.

Tolan isn't afraid to leave a couple loose ends blowing about once the story is over. There's the fact that while Charley learns and grows from her experiences, her father never does. Charley works through her grief and pain through sheer will. Her father, on the other hand, is still hiding behind his 80 hour workweeks by the end of the tale. He may have a newfound respect for his daughter and maybe he's more inclined to stay and home and build a doghouse or something with her, but he hasn't gone through what she has and it shows. While Charley will be able to move on with her life, her father may never be able to do so. It's sad, but it feels true. Feels real.

Of course, I liked Tolan's wordplay as well. She's as comfortable having Charley call her trainer Tony a "physical terrorist" as she is saying that in the kitchen her father, "can make the opening of a box of cereal sound like small arms fire". Then spotted throughout the text, Tolan displays her skill at conjuring up the visual. "The plates of the pine tree's bark, layer after thin layer, form a jagged ring of concentric circles". Luscious.

Admittedly, there is the whole Charley's-mental-connection-to-Coyote thing to grapple with. Normally this kind of spiritual mumbo jumbo would set my teeth on edge. Credit Tolan then for doing the impossible. She takes a very realistic story and manages to weave in a small element that allows her heroine to get brief glimpses of the world through Coyote's eyes without dragging the book down into some kind of supernatural hodgepodge. Since she's dealing with a kind of Zen attitude towards nature and humanity's relation towards it, she's treading on thin ice to begin with. There's a memory Charley has of her mother telling a hive of wasps that they won't be harmed and shouldn't sting her that could have been cutesy or unbelievable. The fact that it flows as beautifully as it does with the rest of the text speaks to how well the book holds together.

Now I'm going to have to be honest with you here. There may be another reason why I liked this book, and it probably will have very little connection to whether or not kids will like it too. For them, it's all going to be about the relationship between Coyote and Charley. For me, it was the book's attitude towards photography. Susan Sontag herself could hardly have written better child-friendly passages about the power of the captured image. Charley's mother was a nature photographer and in communing better with the forest and its denizens, Charley begins to unravel why her mother was as good an artist as she was. I love photography deeply and everything Charley discovers felt true to me. And though I can't vouch for them, it may well feel true to its child readers as well.

So let's sum up, shall we? What we have here is a dog book, yes. But a dog book that is also a book about healing yourself and connecting to something bigger than your own puny existence. Throw in some great writing, a bit of photography, and some humor on the side (always important) and you've got yourself one of the strongest titles of the year. Fresh, fine, and funny, "Listen!", is one of those books kids will find themselves reading and rereading for years to come. It has "classic" status stamped all over it. Best of all, you don't even have to like dogs. A definite plus.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Slow, thoughtful, and deeply moving, May 14, 2008

By	Kathleen E. Ganshert "5th grade teacher" (Iowa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book, about Charley and a wild dog she names Coyote, is not filled with adventure and action. But don't let this scare you off. This slow-paced book touched my soul and left me smiling with satisfaction. As the reader, you get to witness not only the gigantic change in Coyote, but the enormous changes that take place in Charley, who is still hurting from her mother's death two years ago and a recent car accident that left her leg badly injured. Throughout Charley's journey in "taming" this wild dog she calls Coyote, Charley learns to open her heart again to beauty and wonder. If you are a dog lover (as I most certainly am) you will also enjoy reading about the bond that develops between this girl and canine.

[..] You can't help but grow attached to Coyote and Charley. You can't help but applaud their slowly developing friendship. You can't help but hope that both Coyote and Charley will learn to trust again.

The wonderful descriptions of nature and photography are just an added bonus!

I highly recommend this book.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars loved it, April 3, 2007

By	Melissa Sack (georgia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Charley is down and out. She has been injured in a car accident and is learning to walk without any aids. She is having a tough time. Her mother died a few years ago, her father works all the time and now her best friend is leaving for the summer. She thinks that it will be the most boring summer of her life. Then one day she finds a wild, stray dog. Her summer mission becomes to train the dog. Will she be able to do it? Read this book to find out!



While Charlie is taming the dog she learns a lot about her self as well.



Middle school readers who enjoy dog and or nature loves will enjoy this very much.