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I LOOOVE dog books, whether they be fiction, non-fiction, kid lit or adult. If there is a dog in the book (and especially a rescue dog), I'm sold. I read both these books over the Christmas holiday, one given to me by my lovely husband and the other a checkout from the library. One was great, the other pretty-darn-good. Both are great animal stories for any dog lover.

Dog Lost, written by Ingrid Lee, focuses on my absolute favorite breed of dog (and some's least favorite), a pit bull. I own a pit bull, as many of you have seen through the various pictures I've posted of her over the last couple of years and my husband and I are forever getting comments about us owning a "vicious dog breed." SO NOT TRUE. It's the owner, not the breed. Enough said. Anyways...Ms.Lee brings that issue alive with the help of a young boy, his abusive father, and a sweet puppy by the name of Cash.

When 11 year old Mackenzie is awoken by the throwing of a tiny puppy on his bed by his drunk, gambling addicted father, he is absolutely overjoyed. Having a puppy has been dream and he can finally have the best friend he has always wanted. His days become filled with taking care of Cash and raising her from an innocent puppy to a strong, smart, happy dog, with absolutely no help from his father who often kicks her out of his way or threatens to throw in her the street. One night, Mackenzie's day makes good on that threat and Cash is thrown out of the house, left with no family and no roof over her head. Mackenzie is devastated and Cash's little puppy heart is broken with the loss of her boy.

While Cash is just working on survival, a heated debate against pit bulls is raging in Mackenzie's town. Everyone believes the dogs are vicious and should be locked up and put down. When acts of bravery begin to occur throughout the town, all done by a pit bull, minds slowly begin to change from a negative attitude to a positive outlook for the breed and Mackenzie believes he may just know what Cash has been up to since she's been gone.

Though Dog Lost definitely doesn't have the best writing I've ever seen, it's an incredibly heartwarming story that kids are going to love, written on an issue I am very passionate about. Perfect for fans of Ann M. Martin's A Dog's Life.

The Leanin' Dog, written by K. A. Nuzum, is another that pulls at a reader's heartstrings, both for the books main character, another lost child that is in desperate need of a friend, and for the dog, another in need of home.

Dessa Dean has been trying to cope with her emotions since her mother died over a month ago, frozen in the snow. She hasn't been able to leave her house since the experience, living her life inside her and her Daddy's tiny cabin, playing the role of housewife. When a stray dog comes calling at the door, terrified, skinny, and injured, Dessa immediately befriends the animal and is given a purpose to move on with her life, through baby steps that both she, her dog, and her father take together.

Now, The Leanin' Dog was filled with beautiful writing and pure emotion that could be felt on every single page. I was cheering Dessa on every time she attempted to get off that front porch and go after the dog and I was hoping her father would be as compassionate about the dog as she was. Such a purely loving story.

If you're interested in learning more about either book, or to purchase, click on either book cover to link to Amazon.

Dog Lost is a warm, moving, uplifting, and inspiring book. It’s what I would call a comfort book–a book I know I’ll want to read again and again over the years, bringing a feeling of comfort like a warm blanket wrapped around you on a cold night, and, when you’re finished it, a feeling of satisfaction and hunger eased. It’s one of those reads that I want to pass on to everyone.

Dog Lost

by Ingrid Lee

The Chicken House/Scholastic (September 2008)

ISBN-10: 0545085780, ISBN-13: 978-0545085786

Ages 9-12

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

11-year-old Mackenzie lives with his abusive father–but his father does something wonderful when he brings Mackenzie home a pit bull puppy he won after gambling. Mackenzie and Cash quickly bond and provide comfort to each other–until Mackenzie’s father takes Cash away in the trunk of his car and dumps her somewhere. Mackenzie and Cash both try to find each other, each going through their own trials. The situation gets more desperate when the city decides to outlaw all stray pit bulls and put them to sleep. Cash has a good and big heart, and this helps her be just where she needs to be.

Dog Lost has bits of pain, abuse, and trauma mixed into the story, but there is so much hope, so many kind acts, and so many people coming together in the end, that the good feeling is what a reader will take away with them. Also, even in some of the painful descriptions there is beauty in the writing, which may help the reader get some distance.

Lee starts off with Mackenzie’s first meeting with his new dog, Cash, and the lovely way they get to know each other, finding comfort in each other. This relationship builds, and we see the love between them, and believe it. This bond helps offset Mackenzie’s abusive father–until his father throws Cash away. Then we want Cash and Mackenzie to find each other again–and this desire, also woven into the text, propels the story forward at a fast pace as we race to see whether Mackenzie and Cash will have a happy ending.

Mackenzie and Cash are both likable characters. Cash only fights back to try to protect his boy, Mackenzie, and later works to protect others. Cash clearly has a big heart. Mackenzie does his best to try to protect Cash, and later to find Cash. Most of the characters are likable, even ones that don’t play a huge roll.

Lee ingeniously pulls characters from all over and slowly draws them together through small acts of kindness (or, in a few cases, cruelty) towards key moments where many of them intersect. You can actually see the characters and events coming together, little clues and scenes pulling the characters forward, as if inevitably. It is so well crafted, and brings a sense of community, hope, and the feeling that the world is a good place. When Lee changes viewpoint and takes us to another character, she often eases us into it by linking things from the last scene, or the setting, so that the reader is eased into the new voice, follows, and wants to read on.

Lee takes us into Cash’s–the dog’s–point of view and story, as well as Mackenzie’s and some of the other characters, and this increases our caring about the characters and wanting a happy ending. It also helps the reader care immensely about Cash–a pit bull–and to want to defend her against the characters who judge her solely by her breed.

Lee sprinkles backstory into the text–just enough to help us understand why things are important. She also uses foreshadowing a few times to draw the reader forward, or to help the reader feel like they know something about the scene coming up, which works well.

One small thing that bothered me after reading–I thought that Abi, the girl on the train, was young, perhaps Mackenzie’s age; i didn’t realize, til near the end, that she was older. Also, a few times the story felt like it was teaching us–a little too hard–that pit bulls are good animals, and that it’s only when they’re taught to attack that they might attack, and that it’s people’s misconceptions that are the problem. I would have liked this toned down just a little. Sometimes, especially in the section with the “newspaper articles”, it felt preachy, and in the section with the Humane Society statement, we lost the character over the message. But that was quite brief.

Lee uses language beautifully, and at times poetically–drawing the reader in and saying so much at the same time through vivid metaphors. I love her use of language. There are two villains in the story, and it is satisfying that neither of them win and neither of them have happy endings.

The bond between the boy and the dog are so strong, and ultimately this helps save one of their lives–perhaps both–which is moving. So many threads are pulled together nicely–side or background characters that we still care about are given their own happy endings, and things come together in a way that seems perfect. The ending is moving and feel-good, and all the characters come together in a beautifully orchestrated way. To me it was like reading genius.

Dog Lost is a story that’s sure to become a favorite. Highly recommended!