Skip to main content

Soldier Dog

By
Soldier Dog
by Sam Angus
Feiwel & Friends, 2013.  249 pgs. Historical Fiction.

     Stanley's mother has died and his father is so grief-stricken he takes his hurt out on Stanley, driving him away from home and into the British army of World War I.  Stanley lies about his age and signs up in hopes of being sent to France where his brother Tom is fighting. Instead he is assigned to the Dog Messenger Service, training animals to carry messages to and from the front lines. He doesn't expect to be called up with only one dog, but battles are waxing so hot and so many dogs have been lost that he and Bones soon find themselves in a very hot spot indeed. Stanley's story is tender, powerful, and grim. The horrors of World War I trench warfare are deftly painted, right on the edge of what a young person might be able to bear, but are softened somewhat by things turning out better for Stanley and his family than one might realistically expect could have happened.  Ms. Angus's prose is vivid and engaging. No one thinking war is glorious should come out the other end of this book feeling the same way: mustard gas, the painful deaths of valiant men and animals, the mud, and the noise, and the fear make this a good book for young people (grades 6 and up) who are interested in what war is actually like.

Labels:

Comments

Ms. Yingling said…
Definitely want to read this one. Not as much on WWI out there, and it was such a devastating war.
May 24, 2013 at 4:58 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Fowl Play

By
  Fowl Play By Kristin O'Donnell Tubb New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024. Fiction 277 pages. Still reeling from her beloved uncle's death, Chloe Alvarez is comforted and confused when at his last will and testament reading, Uncle Will gifts her his African Grey parrot, Charlie. Charlie has a robust vocabulary and loves to make Alexa requests for her favorite songs, but when she starts saying things like, "homicide," and "cyanide," Chloe becomes convinced that Uncle Will may have met his demise by murder instead of a genetic disease, as was previously thought. Ultimately, bringing in her brother, Grammy, and Uncle Frank (and of course Charlie,) Chloe's ragtag and adoring family support her search for answers ---going on stakeouts, engaging in fast pursuits, and searching for clues. But as the suspects stack up and the mystery grows, Chole will learn that the process of death and grieving is complicated, and in the end her Uncle Will's words that, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Kareem Between

By
  Kareem Between By Shifa Saltagi Safadi New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2024. Fiction. 324 pages.  Kareem loves football and as he gets ready to start seventh grade he dreams of someday becoming the first Syrian American NFL player. Seventh grade is not off to a great start for Kareem, after football tryouts don't go as he had planned, his best friend moves away, and his mom returns to Syria to help bring his sick grandfather to the US for treatment. So when Austin, the quarterback and coach's son, offers to talk to his dad and get Kareem on the football team in the spring, if he will cheat and do his homework for him, Kareem agrees. Kareem really wants to fit in at school and he is desperate to find a friend, but deep down he knows that doing Austin's homework isn't the right thing to do. And to make things harder, Kareem's mom asks him to be a friend to Fadi, a Syrian Christian refugee. He knows he should stand up for Fadi and help him adjust to the new school,...
Post a Comment
Read more