Ripley: Fire Station Five

Cameron, W. Bruce. Ripley: Fire Station Five
August 27, 2024 by Starscape

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Ripley is a blue marle Border Collie who is meant to be trained as a guide dog like his litter mates, but he is too distractable for that. Ben, a firefighter, thinks that he might be of use to the fire department, since he is an intelligent dog. When Ben is bringing him home, he notices that there is a fire at his neighbor's house. Sammie is a middle schooler whose father passed away in a car accident and who has been homeschooled because this made her a very anxious individual. Her therapist had suggested that Lizzy, Sammie's mother, leave her home alone for short periods to make her less dependent. The fire, which forced the girl out onto the roof of the house, did not lessen the anxiety, but Ripley does. Lizzy writes about dog training, and since Ben is a volunteer firefighter who also works at his father's business, he needs someone to watch Ripley and help with his training. Having Sammie work with the puppy seems like a solution to everyone's problems. She certainly gets along with him, but the training doesn't quite go as planned, and her social anxiety is so bad that going out to public venue to socialize him is difficult. It's even harder when Lizzy falls off a ladder that Sammie refused to hold, and ends up in a cast. The two get some help from Sammie's Aunt Emily, but since Lizzy is in a cast, it's hard for her to train Ripley and get Sammie out of the house. Ben comes up with the good idea that Sammie could spend time at the fire station training the dog to become accustomed to that environment. This is okay with the chief, but he's retiring, and his heir apparent, Hutch, is not a fan of dogs or children. Ripley gets some practice going out on calls, and Ben tries to take him into different situations to figure out how the dog will react. At the same time, Ben and Lizzy start dating, and Ben works with Sammie on her issues with being in public and being afraid of things. When Ben and several of the firefighters are involved in a water rescue, Ripley is helpful, but Hutch still put an end to Ripley and Sammie's time at the station. What will it take to change his mind?

Strengths: Like the other books in this series, this is told from Ripley's point of view, so much of the book is dog centric, which gives the story a unique perspective. Sammie's anxiety will resonate with today's young readers, and her therapy and behavior at home ring fairly true. The romance between Ben and Lizzy is light, and gives the book a bit of hope. There are good details about how to train a dog, even though I suspect that training a search and rescue dog takes a lot more consistency and rigor than is shown in this book. The search and rescue details are what draw readers to these books. 
Weaknesses: I wish that this had centered more on Ripley's involvement with search and rescue. While the information and details about Sammie's anxiety were interesting, my readers who pick up dog books are often more interested in action and adventure. 
What I really think: Dog books are always popular in my library, and this is a good choice for readers who have delved into Cameron's Dogs with Purpose, as well as Jennifer Li Shotz's working dog books and  Mason and Stephens Rescue Dogs series. The covers of Cameron's books always draw in readers with their appealing photos of dogs.