Finding Danny
Grade 4–7—Bree Davies, 12, is an only child living in Santa Monica with her journalist parents who are too busy with their careers to pay attention to her. She's drifting away from one of her two best friends because of diverging interests. And now she is paired with Ashton Adams to do a scene fromA Midsummer Night's Dream, and she's nervous because he is popular and ignores her. The only thing that makes up for her parents' absence and all of her problems is her beloved Border collie. When her mother neglects to close the gate one day, Danny goes missing and Bree is unable to forgive her. The high points of this book include the girl's determination to find her pet and her time volunteering at an animal shelter. The rest remains dull, melodramatic, and clichéd, and problems have thin resolutions. It is unfortunate that readers would have to plow through all of this in order to get a glimpse of the harsh realities of animal shelters.—Adrienne L. Strock, Maricopa County Library District, AZCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.