Runaway Retriever

November 1, 2009
Gr 3-6-The first title stars Ella, a young musician who typically spends hours practicing and socializes only with distant music-camp friends. When she inherits Trumpet, a beagle that howls along whenever she tries to sing, she soon finds herself crossing paths with dog lovers and making friends. In the second book, easygoing Parker suddenly finds himself the owner of a golden retriever, and the dog's escapades (Merlin has an almost magical ability to escape from any setting and follow him to school) land the boy in trouble. The sixth grader's first-person narrative employs casual language occasionally peppered with poetic descriptions. The story effectively veils the details of Merlin's breakouts in secrecy, presenting Parker and his friends with a mystery worthy of their creativity and cleverness as they work together to contain the enthusiastic pup. Narrated by the two classmates, each tale engenders an empathetic view of a middle-school community by relating events from different perspectives. This easy-to-read set is fair fodder for kids who like model protagonists and pets, preferring predictability and happy endings to emotion and peril."S. McClendon, Friends School of Atlanta, Decatur, GA"

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