January 5, 2021 by Scholastic Inc.
Library Copy
Continuing the story of the Sterling Center that started with Ember and continued with Dusty (Gem follows this one), we meet a young dog being raised in very poor circumstances. The boy's mother doesn't want a dog, and after picking one up, is horrified when the scared animals throws up on the car ride home and banishes him to an outside existence. Tethered to a small patch of dirt in a collar that starts to rub when it gets too small, the dog isn't shown much warmth and is constantly hungry and uncomfortable. When the boys and his mother are evicted, they leave the dog chained up, and he almost dies. When a man investigating abandoned houses finds him, the dog goes to a shelter to recuperate. When Morgan comes with her mother to the shelter looking for dogs to train as rescue dogs, she thinks the dog has potential, even though he growls a tiny bit, which is a bad sign. The dog goes home with them, and is named Jet because he loves to run after balls so much. He has good instincts, but hates leashes intensely. Morgan works with the dog to try to gain his trust so that he will be able to work with a handler. Morgan's sister is still trying to train cats, so there are moments of levity. Eventually, Jet makes enough progress that he is able to train with Molly, and successfully completes a rescue operation with her.
Strengths: There is something strangely appealing about reading about dogs or children in horrible circumstances, but then get put into better ones. Jet is a sweet dog who tries his best, and who is rightly scared of leashes! Morgan is a patient trainer who understands dogs. She gets plenty of support from her large family, and the glimpse of the Sterling Center will delight readers who might want to work with animals when they grow up. There are lots of good tips and tricks for working with animals, as well as some excitement when Jet has his first mission. This is a highly addictive series that will enthrall tween readers who love dog adventure books.
Weaknesses: We don't see a lot of the family, so I occasionally got confused about Morgan's siblings, since there are five children in the family.
What I really think: I bought these only having read Ember but don't regret it! I still need to read Dusty, but handed it to a student the minute I got it from the publisher, since he had been waiting for more books! (Look at the little boots on Dusty!)
Weaknesses: We don't see a lot of the family, so I occasionally got confused about Morgan's siblings, since there are five children in the family.
What I really think: I bought these only having read Ember but don't regret it! I still need to read Dusty, but handed it to a student the minute I got it from the publisher, since he had been waiting for more books! (Look at the little boots on Dusty!)
Mason, Jane B. and Stephens, Sarah Hines. Dusty (Rescue Dogs #2)
June 2, 2020 by Scholastic Inc.
Library Copy
Dusty is a six pound chihuahua who is scavenging for food with his family in Mexico. A bus hits his mother and two siblings, and a woman on the bus makes the driver stop. When she finds Dusty, she smuggles him onto the bus in her sweatshirt. After getting appropriate documents from a local vet, she brings him to the US, where her uncle Pedro works for the Sterling Center training rescue dogs. Pedro and the family that runs the center don't have pets, but Shelby becomes very fond of Dusty while they are nursing him back to health. Dusty has digestive problems due to malnutrition and burnt foot pads, but he is very sweet and enjoys the comfort humans provide. Even though he is so tiny, he trains to be a rescue worker, and serves an essential role when a team travels to Mexico after an earthquake and his small size helps him get into places that larger dogs couldn't in order to rescue people. This follows the same formula that Ember and Jet do, and reading this out of order didn't seem to hurt. Follett has these available in prebind.
January 5, 2021 by Scholastic Inc.
Library Copy
Well, I either didn't write a review, or it was lost in the Great Goodreads Debacle where I managed to delete all of my reviews. All 9,000+.
And, oddly, there were no giant flashing warnings, and I'm not ever sure how I managed to do this. Something when I was trying to import a book.
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