Pick of the Litter
Grade 4-6 -Although this book is about honor, it often veers off that subject into trivia or handles it too heavy-handedly. It is far more interesting when it focuses on how 12-year-old Tom Nash and his grandfather, who is recuperating from heart surgery, train hunting dogs. And its main conflict doesn't arise until halfway through. The story begins with Tom writing lists of spelling words at the end of the school year because he lied about having them ready to turn in earlier. He goes to soccer camp and helps his mother clean his grandfather's kennel and feed the dogs. He and his parents take a trip to Six Flags where they meet a couple whose daughter is around Tom's age. He makes an awkward attempt at conversation with Angie and they become friends. Finally, halfway through the book, Tom and Grandpa begin to teach the older dogs the finer points of hunting and training the puppies. Tom falls in love with a rare blue-eyed beagle pup that seems the best behaved and most attentive. The problem is that Grandpa has promised the owner of the sire the pick of the litter. Tom shares his worry in a letter to Angie but there is never any real mystery as to what he will do. Wallace uses a first-person narrative but feelings are often told rather than shown. Transitions can also be awkward. Dog books are perennially popular but consider this one only if stock is low and demand high. It's not really the pick of the litter.-Tina Zubak, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.