Good Dog by Dan Gemeinhart

It's rare to come across a book with so much heart, friendship and paws so when I did see this book on the shelf I immediately picked it up and devoured it.

Brodie was a good dog and I say "was" because he is now in an in between place where dead animals go to hang out. He senses that his owner, who he calls "his boy" needs him and so he makes the tough decision to go back to the physical realm. He is able to do so but as you might expect there are a few strings attached. His boy is facing some challenges of his own but how will Brodie be able to help his former owner if he can no longer touch him, or anything for that matter?

For a mission of this magnitude, Brodie can't go it alone and along the way he meets Tuck, the faithful friend who is the perfect foil for the more thoughtful, deliberative Brodie. He also meets Patsy, an alley cat who is as streetwise as they come and shows the dogs how to move around now that they are in physical form.

Brodie's boy is in danger from someone he loves and so the trio of animals are in a race against time to save him. There is more danger too with a pack of evil demon dogs who have their own evil motives for hunting Brodie and co.


The question of whether we have souls is a tricky one but I think the ending was handled in a very satisfactory manner. My takeaway from this novel is that bullies come in all shapes and sizes but with a little bit of heart we can stand up to them. I recommend this book for ages 9 and up.

Courage by Barbara Binns

 T'Shawn and Dontae are best friends and life for them in Chicago is good for the most part. T'Shawn and his younger sister Rochelle live with their mom and the family has been through their fair share of hardship what with the dad's passing and the incarceration of the eldest son Lamont. Then out of the blue, T'Shawn's mom announces that Lamont is being released early and his reintegration into the family does not come easy especially as Lamont is still holding on to some painful memories from the past.

Author Binns is a Chicago native and her familiarity with the people and places is apparent. It is always refreshing to read novels written by natives as they are usually intimately familiar with th history and culture of a specific region. Binns is also familiar with some of the negative aspects of life in the Windy City and she sprinkles some of those facts throughout the novel as well.

One of my takeaways -and I hope that young readers of all ethnicities who read this book feel the same-is that that although it is easy to judge people because of their past and because of appearances, one never knows the real story. in this book, Lamont's conflict is with himself and also with other people he encounters/

This novel would be a great addition to any classroom library. Young urban readers will love seeing themselves reflected in its pages while readers from other parts of the country will get a window into the lives of kids different from themselves.  Some read alikes to this novel are David Barclay's The Stars Beneath Our Feet, Christine Kendall's Riding Chance and Torrey Maldonado's Tight.

Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh

I won't go into the details of what's going on at the United States' southern border with the caravan, migrant families and the military as I think the news has provided adequate coverage. I will say though that I worry how we will be viewed in the future when this whole ugly episode is over. With that said, it was by sheer coincidence that I found myself reading Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh  as it shows a small snippet of the refugee crisis in Syria and its effects on two boys- a fourteen-year-old called Ahmed from Syria and a thirteen-year-old American called Max.

When we meet Ahmed, he and his father are in the midst of a treacherous journey with hopes of reaching England or Canada but  it turns out that the universe has other plans. Ahmed ends up in Brussels cold and alone. Desperate and tired, he ends up sheltering in the abandoned cellar of the Howard family, Americans newly relocated to Brussels.

Max, the youngest child in the family is having a difficult time adjusting to Brussels where his father is on a short-term appointment. Max not only is going to repeat a grade, he is also going to work in a French school. Oh the horror! The school and the city quickly become his least favorite places. He does like his house though and it is full of quirkiness and nooks and crannies.

The boys soon meet and help each other learn about culture, language as they share humanity. I was pleased to see the commonalities the boys found and how their ideas about each other and about each other's cultures were both correct and incorrect. I believe that the more people reach out to one another the more we learn about the world and about ourselves in the process.

Author Marsh lives in Belgium and this is shown in her familiarity with the city and the mood of the place during the time of the terror attacks that occurred a few years ago. The book is well written and I would recommend it for ages 10 and above. Some read alikes in which the theme of the immigrant experience is front and central are Erin Entrada Kelly's The Land of Forgotten Girls and Kelly Yang's Front Desk.

Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin

The phrase "illegal alien" and  "illegal immigrant" have shot to prominence of late not only here in the United States but overseas as well. Of course a person can't be illegal but by crossing national borders without the required documentation they will break laws and be in a country illegally.

Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin make clear that this is a work of fiction but that the various elements that make up the story are true.

Told in a flashback style, we meet Ebo a young by who is a gifted singer who follows his brother Kwame to Europe. The boys leave Ghana across rough terrain to arrive at Niger and then from there to Libya. They face untold hardships on the various stages of the trip. They face it all with humor and a strong brotherly bond.

I won't give away the end but it is bittersweet. needless to say I found myself thinking about the regions that these migrants come from. They leave various parts of Africa that are desperately poor, riddled with internal conflict (or perhaps both) and risk it all to journey to Europe. Of course with the numbers of migrants that have flooded Europe over the last decade, that has caused other problems in those countries as well. The problems seem to have no easy solution at all.

So the next time you hear a story about a boat full of migrants that sunk off the coast of Italy or Greece, spare a thought for these people who are fleeing conflicts that we here in North America cannot imagine not only in our wildest dreams. Some read alikes  are Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh and Refugee by Alan Gratz and Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed.

What Elephants Know by Eric Dinerstein

Eric Dinerstein is a researcher who has spent many years in Nepal and his fluency in the native tongues and the culture of the region (and love for it) is apparent. This book seems almost like  love letter to the people and culture of Nepal.

Nandu is a young apprentice who is trying to work his way up to mahout, an elephant jockey basically. his job entails feeding and cleaning up after the elephant. His father is a shuba sha, a very well respected mahout who has an uncanny connection with the great beasts and is a teacher and medicine man.

Then one day an order from the king threatens to turn their world upside down-their stable may close and if so their livelihood will be gone.  Nandu and his friends come up with an outrageous plan they they hope will save the table.

Their remote area is far from the law and bandits run wild. One group of them called the Maroons is rampant and deadly and Nandu and the other elephant trainers must always be on the lookout for these miscreants who can strike at any time .

Dinerstein's novel touches on a variety of topics such as conservation, gender relations, education but not in a heavy handed way. The topics remain accessible to young readers. I recommend this book for ages 9 and up. The publisher has also provided a handy discussion guide as well.

The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya

It's summer and Arturo Zamora one of the younger members of the close-knit Zamora clan is excited because he will get to hang out with his best buds as well as be around La Cocina, the restaurant started by his Abuela (and which means "the kitchen" in Spanish) where his mom is now the manager. Arturo is old enough to do a real job now- assistant prep kitchen dishwasher.

That's not all, his mom's goddaughter is in town and she seems different than he remembered. For starters, whenever he's around her Arturo's stomach gets queasy and his palms get sweaty.

To make matters worse a shady developer called Wilfrido Pipo has come to town and starts throwing gifts and swag around while extolling the virtues of a new place he plans to develop if city council approves, Pipo Place. Pipo Place will be unlike anything seen before in their little corner of Coral Grove, but it might mean the end of La Cocina.

Arturo and his family are in for the fight of their lives. I recommend this book for ages 9 and up. Some read alikes are Lucky for Good by Susan Patron, Free Baseball by Sue Corbett and All Four Stars by Tara Dairman.

The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore

We need diverse books hashtag has certainly had some impact almost five years later...For more on diverse books check out the website or simply search the hashtag #weneeddiversebooks.

Lolly Rachpaul is like any other kid in New York City. He hangs out with his pal Vega, is waiting to see what he gets for Christmas (a new phone would be nice) and he loves building Lego. There is something else bothering him also-he is still in mourning over a recent tragedy What's worse is that the siren call of the streets has now turned its attention to Lolly and his friend, if they heed it, things could change drastically.

Lolly is at that awkward stage when he is aware of girls but still not sure if and how to approach them. One of the girls at his after school program is called Rose (the kids call her Big Rose) and they strike up an unlikely friendship over a shared love of legos and as coping mechanisms. The kids think Rose is strange and either mock or play pranks on her.

I liked that I could read a book with a young man with a heritage similar to mine (West Indian/Caribbean). The old adage is that it take a village to raise a child and Lolly benefits from various caring adults who influence him in different ways. I think of all the many children growing up in the United States, and in New York City in particular with similar heritage who will see themselves in this book, will be faced with similar social and societal obstacles and may even know someone with similar circumstances. Moore also does a great job presenting different family dynamics.

I would recommend this book for readers aged 10+. Some similar reads would be Walter Dean Myers' A Star is Born,  Jason Reynolds' Patina and Ghost.

The Summer of Owen Todd by Tony Abbott

As a father of young children I always worry about whether or not I have given them the tools to handle stranger danger or even danger from familiar faces (statistically children are more likely to be abused by a family member). One such way I can do is by looking for literature that handles difficult topics in a sensitive manner. Luckily, The Summer of Owen Todd by Tony Abbott does just that.

It starts off like any other summer for Owen Todd on Cape Cod...visions of baseball, go karting and beaches fill his head...it's going to be a long, fun summer. His best friend Sean has similar plans but due to extenuating circumstances his mom hires a babysitter. The babysitter turns out to have other plans up his sleeve besides mere babysitting and Sean confides in Owen.

Owen is shocked by the revelations and  his tween mind struggles with what  to do with the information especially when he considers what revealing the truth could do to the tight-knit community. Owen could take the easy route out as he has his own issues to deal with. He never loses sight of the big picture which is that what someone-a grown up no less- has done something wrong to his best friend and as a friend he should try to do something about it.

It would be easy to blame Sean's mother what with all that she has to do and the other mitigating factors. Like many single parents she has a lot on her plate and in trying to make ends meet decides to use a familiar resource.

The author also includes an afterword that implores readers to use many of the resources available if they know or suspect sexual abuse is occurring (if you see something, say something). Although there aren't graphic descriptions of events, the subject matter may be better understood by children aged 9+.  A good read for adults to share with younger ones is Some Secrets Should Never be Kept by Jayneen Sanders.