War Dogs--Tales of Canine Heroism, History, and Love

June 30, 2014
Though she’s is a senior editor of special projects at Foreign Policy, Frankel’s weekly column about war dogs in the same publication is clearly where her heart lies; she shares her admiration for them in this frequently fascinating study of their role in the military. Dogs have been used in war for centuries, more often in more to take live than to save them, but their uses are many: they alert troops to danger, seek out bombs, send messages in hostile environments, and provide therapeutic comfort to veterans. Frankel explores all of these roles and more, explaining what makes dogs uniquely suited for these tasks, and shares numerous vignettes of dogs (and their handlers) in action, from training to deployment. Frankel’s stance on military’s use of dogs is far from passive. She is highly critical of the U.S. Army’s indifferent attitude to the effects of war on the dogs themselves, some of whom return from the field irrevocably changed and suffering from a canine version of PTSD. Her passion for her subject matter and deep appreciation for the dogs is heartwarming and inspiring throughout. Military aficionados as well as dog lovers will learn from and enjoy from this study of canine commandos and the service people who count on them.

Military service dogs perform a variety of roles, but those trained to sniff out IEDs are the primary focus of this effort.Like so many recent nonfiction works for young adults, this is a reworked version of a recent adult publication, also called War Dogs (2015). Frankel begins many chapters with brief, engaging narrative descriptions of war-dog missions or training episodes, then turns her attention to the details of the stories. Included are sad descriptions of missions that resulted in the deaths of dogs or handlers. One long section focuses on the extensive dog and handler training that goes on in a "K-9 village," a realistic mock-up of an Iraqi town at the Yuma Proving Ground. There's a proliferation of acronyms and initialisms, all included in a list in the extensive backmatter, and their use adds military flavor to the story that may appeal to some readers, but the sheer profusion of them can overwhelm. The volume is but lightly redacted (a reference to a dog as a "nasty little bitch" in the book for adults is prudishly absent here); the most striking difference involves the breaking up of the text into many more chapters than in the adult volume and integrating photographs into the narrative rather than isolating them in an insert. Sentence length and structure are not noticeably simplified for a young audience. Although fascinating, this lengthy effort seems nearly interchangeable with the adult version. (Nonfiction. 12-16) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2016

Gr 7-10-In this young readers edition of her adult title of the same name, Frankel explores the roles that our canine friends play in warfare. A self-avowed animal lover and rescuer, the author displays enormous empathy for the dogs and their handlers throughout. Though the subject is military working dogs, their handlers aren't separated from the story. The descriptions of the various dogs, their handlers, and their deployments together are intermingled throughout. Most of the accounts focus on missions from Iraq and Afghanistan, though there are several from the Vietnam War. Frankel's remarkable ability to get up close and personal with these creatures and their handlers, highlighting their incredible bonds, makes for a full and rich work. Many of the mission scenarios contain graphic details, an element that may be troubling for sensitive readers. VERDICT A solid choice for those who love dogs and are interested in all things military.-Eldon Younce, Anthony Public Library, KS

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