White Fur Flying

January 7, 2013
MacLachlan crafts an elegantly spare novel about the healing power of dogs and love—much as she did in 2011’s Waiting for the Magic, though this story sticks to realism, forgoing the talking animals of that book. Narrator Zoe Cassidy and her 10-year-old younger sister, Alice (“the storyteller of the family”), enjoy a warm, animal-centric life with their parents: their father is a veterinarian, and their mother rescues Great Pyrenees dogs. When an enigmatic and silent nine-year-old boy named Phillip moves in with a dour couple across the street, the family gradually defrosts the relationship with help from its houseful of dogs. Zoe’s joyful household contrasts starkly with Phillip’s quiet one, living with two relatives who are caring for him while his parents “solve a problem.” Kodi (a hulking Great Pyr) and a cheeky parrot named Lena are the first to encourage Phillip’s thaw. MacLachlan builds tension when Phillip and another dog, Jack, disappear during a storm. A graceful and quiet narrative with keen observations on how time and affection can remedy pain. Ages 7–up. Agent: Rubin Pfeffer, East West Literary Agency.

Starred review from January 15, 2013
A rescued dog saves an unhappy, silent boy in this gentle story about families, fears and courage. As she did most recently in Waiting for the Magic (2011), Newbery Medalist MacLachlan shows the support that pets can provide. Zoe's mother fosters abandoned Great Pyrenees dogs. But when Jack, a new dog, runs away, 9-year-old Phillip, a new neighbor, runs after him. He gets lost, but the dog leads him to a barn where they shelter from a night of rain and hail. Phillip's parents are having problems; he's staying for a while with a childless aunt and uncle with little experience with children or dogs, and he won't talk to anyone. Zoe's family, on the other hand, is close, chatty and compassionate. They care for each other and for their rescued animals: not only the massively shedding white dogs, but also an African grey parrot whose favorite phrase is "You can't know." True. There is much you can't know about people and animals both, and much you don't know, still, after the story ends. Zoe recalls the experience in a narrative occasionally interrupted by ruminative, present-tense glimpses of Zoe with the dogs at night and summed up in her little sister Alice's concluding journal entry. The spare prose and extensive dialogue leaves room for the reader's imagination and sympathy. Beautifully told, quietly moving and completely satisfying. (Fiction. 7-10)

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March 1, 2013

Gr 3-5-Life is never dull for Zoe and Alice. Their mother rescues Great Pyrenees dogs until a new home can be found and their father is a veterinarian. Enormous dogs are always roaming their family's rural home and white fur is always flying everywhere. When the sisters meet their new neighbor, Phillip, they are left with many questions. Phillip has gone silent. What happened that would cause him to stop speaking? Does he believe that he is the cause of his parents' problems? MacLachlan shares with young audiences a touching story of compassion, trust, and patience. She weaves the themes of family and friendship throughout the narrative, peppering her well-paced plot with sufficient tension and avoiding an overdramatization of its climax. Like many of the author's best stories, this one is told simply and gently with touches of light humor. The clear prose, combined with the brevity of the narrative, make the book an ideal selection for young readers, reluctant readers, and animal lovers everywhere. Children will feel satisfied as they discover that both dogs and boys can be rescued, and many will be pleasantly surprised that they can also rescue one another.-Elly Schook, Jamieson Elementary School, Chicago

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2012
Grades 2-4 MacLachlan delivers yet another understated, quietly inspirational chapter book with this tale of a boy who emerges from his shell via some canny canine intervention. Young Zoe lives in the country with her family of four and an ever-shifting cast of Great Pyrenees dogs, which Zoe's mom rescues, trains, and then gives away to new owners. Kodi is the only dog to live with them constantly, and he mourns each time of one his companions leaves. Enter nine-year-old Phillip, sent to live with his aunt while his parents resolve an unspecified dispute. Phillip will not speak to anyoneexcept Kodi. Maybe that is what Kodi and Phillip know about each other, says Zoe. They're both left behind. Preternaturally wise (and sometimes stilted) kid dialogue aside, this is tailor-made for beginning readers looking for a gentle handling of powerfully felt emotions. There is only one dramatic incident of notePhillip disappears during a hailstorm to chase after a dog he's come to loveand it is swiftly tidied up for the inevitable, but sweet, happy ending. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The long shadow of the Newbery-winning Sarah, Plain and Tall (1985) continues to make each MacLachlan offering something of an event.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)