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Every once in awhile, I'll come across a really cute, wholesome book for middle graders, that I really want to share with my nieces (and of course, with you all) and I've found that description this month in The Dog Days of Charlotte Hayes by Marlane Kennedy. It's filled with love, compassion, and...my favorite...dogs.

Charlotte Hayes is twelve years old and completely not a dog person. She isn't scared of them or anything, she just would rather avoid contact, if possible. Definitely less than thrilled when her dad brings home a giant Saint Bernard puppy named Killer, Charlotte ends up being the dog's primary character. Everyone else in her family seems to enjoy the idea of having a dog, but not caring how he gets fed and watered, whether he has to sleep out in the snow, or if he gets any attention at all, leaving that all up to Charlotte.

The wonderfully lovable Charlotte decides that the dog, who she has since renamed Beauregard, deserves a much better home than the one her family is providing for him. One with caring individuals that let the dog sleep inside on cold nights, always keep his food and water full, and pets him regularly. She sets out on a mission to find Beauregard the perfect home, still insisting over and over again, the she simply is not a dog person, though falling in love with the big teddy bear of a dog more and more every day.

Such a charming, charming story this one was. Perfect for the middle grade range, Charlotte is just one of those characters you can't help but love and giggle at, as she tries her hardest to get her dog a new home, without telling her family what she's doing. Adorable and sweet, The Dog Days of Charlotte Hayes is, without a doubt, one I will be recommending. If you know a girl or a boy that needs a nice, wholesome story, this is a great choice.

The Dog Days of Charlotte Hayes
Marlane Kennedy
233 pages
Middle Grade fiction
Greenwillow
9780061452413
March 2009

Monica Edinger recently linked to a rather interesting article in Education Week called Dark Themes in Books Get Students Reading. It takes a gander at the idea of introducing contemporary YA lit alongside "classics" in high school English classes. You know the type. Speak and Hamlet side-by-side type of stuff. The article marks the reappearance of Barbara Feinberg and her Welcome to the Lizard Motel. That book was once discussed in a series of rousing child_lit debates and continues to be a very divisive title in terms of literary analysis. As most of the article is concerned with the high school rather than elementary and middle school curriculum, I was a little confused as to why author Kathleen Kennedy Manzo would go to Feinberg in the first place.

The piece itself also felt a little top-heavy here and there, particularly when indulging in statements like:

Doing so, however, can foster concerns about whether the content of such books is appropriate, Mr. Lindblom acknowledges. Many young-adult novels, for example, feature violent scenes, topics such as death and abuse, or protagonists who purposely hurt themselves.