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.