Junkyard Dog

✍ Scribed by Polak, Monique

• Book ID: 107198735
• Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 40 KB
• Category: Fiction

✦ Synopsis

Review

"Not a taxing read and students will find the end of the novel comes quite quickly. This novel will be good for students who are interested in reading about topics that are serious however need a book that is a more accessible reading level." (Resource Links 20091001)

"This is a great read for the 9 to 12 year-old animal lover in your life or the teen who is feeling like he/she does not fit in...This juvenile novel was an engaging read and well-written from Justin's perspective. I really did see his world through his eyes and level of understanding." (Word of Mouse Book Reviews blog 20091002)

"[The] storyline would attract the reluctant or low reader who likes realistic animal stories." (Washington State YA Review 20091015)

"As ever, Polak's narrative style is succinct and engaging. Such abstract concepts as ethics and empathy are given concrete forms through a story that will particularly appeal to reluctant readers." (Montreal Review of Books )

"The story is an interesting one, with enough action and engaging characters to easily hook reluctant readers Can provide some excellent food for thought regarding ethical questions of treatment of animals and whether an individual's need can excuse participation in unethical activities." (CM Magazine )

"Orca Currents continues its line of hard-hitting novels for reluctant readers with this brutal yet rewarding moral quagmire Polak writes with a nervy confidence, and her specificity lends an authenticity that lives beyond the book's relatively few pages. A powerful story for anyone who has ever looked into the eyes of a dog and accepted the offer: 'Be good to us, and we'll be good to you.'" (Booklist )

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

One of the private-school boys grabs hold of his buddy's arm. "Let's get outta here," he says. "See the fangs on that monster? And the way his ears are sticking up?"

I don't like him calling Smokey a monster. If Smokey's baring his fangs, it's because he's on the alert.

I head for the cash. I feel like Smokey needs me. Like I understand him in a way no one else does.

(20100301)