Mission Impawsible

March 15, 2016
In the first of a new series, seventh-grader Kim combines her talent and enthusiasm for working with animals with her need to undertake a community service project for school. She and her BFF, Sasha, are volunteering at a small local animal shelter. Kim's vision for this experience is nearly spoiled when she discovers that Sasha's new friend, Taylor, will be joining them, leaving her feeling "like a third wheel." Taylor is described as "a tall girl with brown skin and a hundred little braids that ended in silver beads," in contrast to floppy-haired white girls Kim and Sasha. Kim's formulaic, jealousy-fueled struggles with the change in relationships are neatly, completely resolved when she uses her dog-whisperer skills to help Taylor deal with her fear of the larger animals, effectively eliminating that dog-eared conflict, but two others emerge. Kim struggles with her grades, threatening her work at the shelter, and more critically, the shelter is in financial trouble. Her scheme for an after-school dog club provides, improbably, the needed income stream, and her emerging sense of competence from navigating the bumps of a new business helps her out with schoolwork. Clunky back-story exposition, Kim's unconvincing, authorial first-person voice, flat, predictable, and even stereotypical characters--Taylor's dad is "famous" for his Southern-fried chicken and greens--all combine to create an unexceptional, vanilla-flavored outing. Book 2, When the Going Gets Ruff, publishes simultaneously.Perhaps this effort will appeal to pet lovers. (Fiction. 9-12)

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March 1, 2016

Gr 3-6-This new series begins with simultaneous releases of the first two books featuring best friends and dog enthusiasts Kim, Sasha, and Taylor. Mission Impawsible is presented from "dog whisperer" Kim's point of view. The seventh-grade girls are assigned volunteer work after school a few days each week and find a perfect opportunity in a failing dog shelter. With some creativity, dedication, and very hard work, Kim learns she has the ability to engender real change as she and her friends establish the Roxbury Park Dog Club to save the shelter. When the Going Gets Ruff is presented from Sasha's point of view. Sasha is determined to prove to her mother that she is responsible enough to have her very own pet, but everything she tries goes wrong. When Sasha briefly loses a dog from the Dog Club, she is certain she's done for. Ultimately, however, she learns the true meaning of responsibility-with a little help from her friends-and might just find her perfect furry companion. While well paced and engaging, these series starters are unfortunately unremarkable. The Dog Club's problems are slight, and conflicts resolve easily. Reminiscent of Ann M. Martin's "The Baby-Sitters Club" series (Scholastic) but with less substance, these titles don't offer anything new to the pet-fiction genre. However, if readers are hungry for more friendship and doggy reads, this series might be worth the venture. VERDICT Strictly an additional purchase; recommend for those libraries with readers clamoring for more quick, dog-themed reads.-Taylor Worley, Springfield Public Library, OR

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