The Dog Who Saved the World

October 15, 2020
A pandemic breaks out in the northeast of England and the solution involves time travel. Eleven-year-old Georgina Santos has always longed for a dog. Shaggy mutt Mr. Mash steals her heart, but unfortunately, the twosome can only meet during Georgie's volunteer shifts at St. Woof's shelter. On a beach outing with the shelter dogs, Georgie and her best friend, Ramzy Rahman, meet eccentric game developer Dr. Emilia Pretorius. The fortuitous run-in leads to the pair's unwittingly participating in Dr. Pretorius' greatest work, the Big Experiment, testing her multisensory virtual-reality environments. When Georgie's oversight in hygiene protocols at St. Woof's leads to the spread of canine-borne Ebola, Dr. Pretorius' Big Experiment might just be the key to ending the pandemic. Adventures ensue as Georgie and her pals race to retrieve a cure. Welford presents a fast-paced, female-driven STEM adventure in which short chapters that jump back and forth through time keep the plot moving, teasing the story of how everything came to be and keeping readers in suspense. Georgie has dark curly hair and light brown eyes; Ramzy comes from an unnamed war-torn country that no longer exists. Dr. Pretorius is a Black woman whose Afro is commented upon frequently, and her blue eyes cause Georgie to stare and squeak in surprise--a treatment that feels othering. The initial spread of the disease from a Chinese family to a shelter dog may not land well in the current environment. A time-traveling romp. (Science fiction. 8-12)

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November 1, 2020

Gr 3-7-Georgie and her pal Ramzy meet Dr. Pretorius, an eccentric scientist, while walking on the beach with Georgie's dog Mr. Mash. Mr. Mash has to live at a no-kill dog shelter because Georgie's soon-to-be stepmom, Jessica, is allergic to dogs. Dr. Pretorius convinces the friends to participate in a highly sophisticated and secret virtual reality experiment she is conducting that allows people to travel to the future. Meanwhile the dog shelter, where Mr. Mash lives and where Georgie volunteers, is the epicenter of a new canine-born form of Ebola which originated in China and was inadvertently brought to the shelter by a Chinese family looking for a dog. Infected dogs are being put down, and the disease is beginning to spread to humans, resulting in global panic. It is up to Georgie and Ramzy to travel into the future to save the world with the help of a few others, such as Georgie's older brother Clem, Mr. Mash, and Jessica, who works for a biobotics research unit investigating infectious diseases. This title is currently being released in the U.S. and was originally published in 2019 in Britain. VERDICT Although remarkably prescient as it features a deadly pandemic, it reinforces negative stereotypes about Asian people being the vector responsible for transmitting an infectious disease. It is unfortunate as the plot is engaging and would undoubtedly appeal to middle school readers (although be warned: A lot of dogs die). Not recommended.-Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's Sch., Brooklyn

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2020
Grades 5-7 *Starred Review* Timely in several ways, this scary tale plunges a British preteen and her small town into days of terror after a canine form of Ebola jumps to humans and threatens a truly devastating pandemic. Wracked with the sick certainty that she has contributed to the outbreak by handling a slobbery tennis ball at the dog shelter, Georgie Santos nonetheless contrives to spirit her favorite pooch, a gassy but loveable mutt named Mr. Mash, away in the wake of a general order to euthanize all strays. But a vaccine could be years away--too late to prevent millions of deaths. There is but one chancy hope: a secretive game designer (with a heart condition!) who styles herself "Dr. Pretorius" after the comic-book villain has developed a buggy, experimental device powerful enough to create a futuristic virtual reality. Of course, no grown-up is going to believe that. But might someone nonetheless be able to travel into a real future to bring back a sample of the antidote? Welford trots in a vivid and diverse supporting cast, introduces scuttling hordes of not-exactly-virtual giant scorpions for extra excitement, and cranks the already taut suspense up another notch by packing Georgie's narrative into dozens of ultra-short chapters. The mix of comedy and horror makes for gut-wrenching reading, even though all the dog and human deaths, of which there are many, take place offstage.

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