Getting lost on Everest

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. You know these summer months are tough to keep up with the demands of my owner's reading habits and the nice weather outside. I like stretching out in the sun and letting feeling that warmth on my belly...aahhhhh, just the thought is relaxing. Especially since my owner read the book, Peak by Roland Smith, to me.
The story is about a 14 year old, Peak Marcello, who has a fascination with climbing things until he gets in trouble for scaling a New York skyscraper. His estranged father (a famous mountain climber) takes him to Everest with he and his climbing company. Their goal: to get Peak to the top of Everest making him the youngest to reach the peak. Will he make it?
The story is told as a journal written by Peak himself, so the perspective is unique and colorful. The interesting thing about the story is the detailed accounts of the various climbing expeditions and the struggles and thoughts they had during each one.
The one thing that I got confused about was the time each event occurred. The number of trips up and down the mountain to prepare for their climb to the peak, seemed to take hours when in reality they probably took several days. The action takes place over the course of a summer, but the number of climbs and descents was confusing. Thank goodness for the map in the front of the book that marked the checkpoints and places the characters set up camp or I'd be totally lost. I had to nose the pages to the front when my owner was finished reading so I could grasp what just happened and where it took place.
As far as the book itself is concerned, it was a very captivating story and one that I think middle school and even some high school students would like to read. The character, Peak's, voice in his writing as he is keeping a journal of his experiences is great, and enjoyable. The book is definitely NOT boring. I liked it so much I'm giving it:


I would recommend this to anyone who wants a book that contains non stop action and adventure or to anyone who is interested in mountain climbing and the determination it takes to do it. Lastly, I'm going to give this book my stamp of approval.



I've got some catching up to do, so I'll sniff you soon!

The Wolf by Steven Herrick

Wolf? Wolf? Did somebody say wolf? I love stories about my canine relatives, although the last story about a dog had him getting his scrotum bit. But I reserve hope that this one will come out good in the end as far as the wolf is concerned. This free verse book was so creatively called, The Wolf, and was written by Steven Herrick. This story begins with two teenagers who live very separate home lives but are drawn together by the story of a mysterious wolf who supposedly lives in the area. Now, since the story takes place on the continent of Australia I know that there are no wolves there, -remember, "The dingo ate my baby!", thus leading to the mystery of the what the animal really is. The story is cleverly told in several different perspectives in what seemed to be short poems, but could be read more like chapters. I'm not so sure why the novel was written the way it was, but it made the words more interesting and meaningful. Even reluctant readers will enjoy.

The author decided to write each verse like this:

Milo: Thoughts
One person's thoughts could
be captured in a rare and
unique form.
Writing in this way seemed to make
the book go quicker and
since the collections were broken up
into parts,
it was tough to stop in the
middle of a section
and we wanted to keep reading farther.
As I said before,
the story was written from the different
perspectives of the characters in
the novel.

Lucy and Jake are the two teenagers who go on a journey to find this wolf which Jake's father tells stories about and Lucy's father wants to kill for eating his sheep. Lucy leaves to escape from her father's verbal and emotional abuse and Jake leaves to prove his father wrong that it is not a wolf but merely a wild dog. Well as they venture out, tragedy happens and Lucy and Jake are forced to stay overnight in a cave - hmmmm, two teenage kids in a cave overnight, I wonder what's going to happen . Kiss, kiss, kissy, kiss, kiss. The adventure turns dangerous when the howls of the creature force one of them to leave the cave and find help.
All in all, this so far has been the best book my master has read to me out of our high school pile. Even better than the one with all the dirty words and sex. So with that that being said, I give this book a biscuit rating of:

5 biscuits. This book was extremely well written and was able to hold the reader's attention to the very end. A love story with just enough humor and adventure to satisfy even the pickiest of readers. I think that high school students will enjoy this book because of the story, but also the unique writing style adds to the novel's mystique. The author is able to identify with the feelings and thoughts of many of todays young adults. This is a book which I put my Paw of Approval on.
This is Milo, wagging off for now, but I'll be back soon with another review. So until next time I leave you with a big fat lick across the face. SLURP!

What Happened? by Peter Johnson

Hello again, we're back with yet another book review. We are reading these things left and right. This novel was one that we both enjoyed. Our latest reading pleasure was What Happened by Peter Johnson.
The story is about a 16 year old who has had many a misfortune in his life including the death of his mother and the desertion of his father. He now lives with his aunt and older brother, Kyle. The plot centers around an accident that happened as the boys were coming home from a high school party along with some friends. There are events that lead up to the accident and then the drama unfolds as the boys try to handle the repercussions of that accident. The events evolve into a climax that is somewhat disappointing.
Now for the pros and cons of the book. Pros: The story and the plot are very engaging and my floppy ears were always ready to hear what was going to happen next. I found myself anxiously waiting to see what the characters were going to do next. The novel is written through a series of flashbacks intertwined in the present tense of the story. It was fun to follow the characters through the story. Another quality of the story I liked, was the language. There were enough F-Bombs to keep this big dog's attention for a while. Name a profanity, it was in there.
Cons: The ending of the book was a definite let down from all the events that led up to it. And, as I mentioned before there were a series of dirty words throughout the book, and while these words perked my ears and kept my nose wet, this book is intended for high school students. Along with the profanity, there were also several sexual references, the lord's name in vain on many an occassion, and the characters drank and smoked pot through the whole book - sooooo, with that being said, I'm not sure that this book is the best for high school teenagers, although I think unfortunately some good relate to the characters and it could be good for them to see how to work out their problems. I know my owner felt uncomfortable at times knowing that this was intended for ages 12 and up, not even close. It should actually be for ages 16 and older.
So with all that said, my tail wagging opinion is that this novel would get:

4 Biscuits. Although this was by far the best book we've read so far, the profanity and other themes in the novel and knowing the intended audience, made me eat one of those biscuits. Not to mention, I was a little hungry.

We have gotten several new books in from other publishing companies, so we definitely have our work cut out for us. So, I've got to get back to laying at the living room window and catch some rays from the sun before my owner begins reading the next book. Yawwwwnn! I'll be back later.

Booth's Daughter by Raymond Wemmlinger

We just finished the novel Booth's Daughter written by Raymond Wemmlinger. Now let me give you the low down on this book first. The story is about an 18 year old girl named Edwina Booth who supports her father, the popular stage actor, Edwin Booth. Ever sense the assassination of President Lincoln, her family has been shamed because her uncle, John Wilkes Booth. Poor Edwina gets paranoid when an assassination attempt on president Grant is attempted and she feels that everyone is looking at her. Most of the story follows Edwina for a number of years as she travels with her father as he goes all over performing plays. In between all the plays, president Grant, snotty rich people, Edwina is wrapped up in a romance with quite a few young men.
Now, with my being a very manly man dog - as manly as I can be after the "snip-snip" incident, which I don't like to talk about - I am not into romances. This book made me think of watching those mini-series in the 80's that last for a few days and really never told a story. I felt like I was reading Edwina's personal diary. Although there were some historical facts, they kinda get lost in the first person perspective from Edwina. So with that being said, teens who feel the need to get their romance fix might like this book, but I can't see it being a hot read. The story itself was not bad, there just wasn't much of a plot. No profanity, no sexual innuendos - except for a kiss in which Edwina thinks she's going to pass out - I find it hard to believe very many teens will be impressed with this novel.
I am giving this novel a wet-nosed three and a half biscuits:


When my owner first read the title, he thought it was going to be more about John Wilkes Booth when really, that was just a relative of the main character and didn't have any significance to the story. I hope the next book has a plot.



Sniff Sniff - I'll see you later.

Tough Boy Sonatas by Curtis Crisler

This book is a collection of poems written by Curtis Crisler. These poems are from the eyes of a young boy growing up in the town of Gary, Indiana. There are many vivid images in the poems as the characters and personalities of the local boys is described with each poem. There are people from daydreamers in class to tomboy girls who have a nice right cross to the chops. One boy tells of his grandmother's drug addiction and the effects it has on her. The poem I enjoyed was the poem that talked about the boy's addictions, which ended up being candy bars and fast food. The illustrations throughout the book drawn in black, browns, and darker tans and blues, add to the dingy and sooty look of an industrial town like Gary.
There were a lot of very graphic words and "images" through the writing. The "n-word" was even used sparingly throughout the poems, as long as imagery of sex, violence, and innocence of the boys in the community in which they were raised.
Will high school kids enjoy this book? Some may. If you can get past the way each poem is written in chopped up pieces down the page and read it like a prose instead of trying to get a rhythm of poetry in your head, it may be interesting to some. I'm betting most teens will just read and re-read the poems that talk about the sex or have questionable language.
Now as far as my wet nosed opinion of the book, I would give it 3 1/2 bones out of five.


Until next time, LICK!

The Surprise by Sylvia van Ommen

ALRIGHT...What's the big idea? The first book my master pulls out of the box is a picture book. Now I looove picture books as much as the next wiener dog don't get me wrong, but this picture book had NO WORDS! That's right, a wordless picture book. Well, since I wasn't going to be read to from this book, I had to push my nose in and take a look for myself.
The pages are very colorful and leave a lot to the imagination. The story is about a sheep who dyes and shaves her wool to make a very special gift for a very special friend.
Nothing much to this book. I could hear the teacher wheels spinning inside my owner's head as he "read" through the book a second time. I can picture the students in his classroom using the pictures to make predictions and inferences. The class could also write their own story to each of the pictures. That could be fun.
This book is definitely intended for younger audiences. Even as young as 2-3 years of age. Now for my floppy eared biscuit rating:


I gave it three because of the potential it could pose in the classroom. Could lead to a lot of creativity and imagination from students.


Woof. I'll sniff ya later.

What's in the Box?

We got our first box today. Goodie, goodie, goodie, goodie! My owner brought it home from school. It was a small box with about six books. Of course I had to give each one a sniff first to make sure I would be able to allow them inside my house or if they had to be chewed on. No chewing on these. Now, let the reading begin!

Woof. See ya later.

Higher Power of Scrotum...Oops I mean Lucky

The Newbery Award winner for this year - The Higher Power of Lucky - has come under a lot of criticism lately for containing an "offensive" word. The book was written by librarian, Susan Patron, who not only uses the word once, but several times throughout the first chapter. The word in question is: *snicker-snicker* "scrotum". People - librarians, teachers, and parents alike are outraged that a children's book would contain such a dirty dirty word. They are even going as far as banning the book from libraries. What's wrong with that word? Isn't that the anatomically correct word? Maybe people wouldn't get so mad if the author used a term such as nut-sac or nard-bag. Oh oh, how 'bout jewel sac or perhaps veg basket. I could go on for days.
What is more offensive to me is the fact that the term is being used when describing an incident with my own kind. A dog in the story, Roy, gets bit in the scrotum by a snake. Now that's what I call offensive, why couldn't it have been a cat getting bitten. Everything in books always happens to us dogs. We die all the time, get bit by rabid animals, get lost, and so on. This takes the cake though, getting bit in the doggie danglies? Ouch ouch ouch.
Anyway, the book itself it actually pretty good. The main character, a 10 year old girl, likes to listen through a hole in the wall to the patrons of a local Alcohol's Anonymous meeting. Lucky has a lot of worries and concerns going through her head, such as her guardian leaving her, and she listens to the meetings hopefully to get solace from a "higher power". The characters are quite interesting, especially my favorite, Miles, a five year old boy who likes cookies and a certain picture book. If you truly want to judge this book for yourself, I suggest you look past the first chapter. Oh yeah and for all those who are still in shock about the word in the first chapter, - SPOILER - It rears it's ugly head again towards the end of the book.

In my honest four-legged opinion, this book deserves 4 1/2 biscuits out of 5. (I'm eating a half biscuit in honor of my friend,Roy, and his scrotum).Hey, Ms. Patron, next time write about a cat getting clawed in the "kittie kaboodles" then I'll be a real fan of your work.


Woof! I'm out!

Let's Get it Started

My first box of books is anxiously awaiting for my owner to pick them up from the UPS prison. The box was initially sent to the wrong address so now we have to physically go and pick them up. Looking forward to chewing open that box, pushing my muzzle through the flaps, and sniffing that first book. I just can't wait to get my nose into that first book. I'll let you know what we find inside the box!