  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 02/15/2011 Though there is no shortage of stories about the love and loyalty between humans and their four-footed friends, Pyron offers a fresh and inspired tale of 11-year-old Abby Whistler and her beloved Shetland sheepdog, Tam. During a long trip home from an agility contest, a car accident sends Tam’s kennel flying from the bed of Abby’s truck and down a fast-moving creek, leaving him badly injured and alone and Abby in the hospital. So begins an epic account of the girl’s and dog’s travails in their quest to be reunited. The narrative toggles between Abby’s and Tam’s points of view, through their experiences with pain, danger, and aching loneliness for each other. Tam’s voice is so endearing and unquestioningly faithful that readers will find it tough not to flip to the final pages to find out how this heartfelt story ends. Hand this to fans of Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s Shiloh (1991) and Kathi Appelt’s The Underneath (2008), and they will not be disappointed. - Copyright 2011 Booklist. School Library Journal - 04/01/2011 Gr 4–8—On their way home from an agility championship competition that Abby's Shetland sheepdog won, Abby and her mother are in an accident. Tam is thrown, cage and all, from the car into the river. The sixth grader and her mom are both in need of emergency medical help. No one is able to return to look for Tam until days later when there is no sign of him. In alternating chapters, Tam and Abby tell their stories. The dog's is one of harrowing hardship and dangerous circumstances, reminiscent of Sheila Burnford's The Incredible Journey (Little, Brown, 1961) as he attempts to travel hundreds of miles home to "his girl." Abby is experiencing the stress of moving and fitting in at a new school because of her dad's job, but her thoughts never stray from her beloved dog. Though months go by, Abby never gives up hope that somehow Tam will be found. This is encouraged by her grandmother, who has psychic visions of Tam trying to come home. Other mystical elements play well, such as a coyote that befriends the dog and later returns as an apparition to lead him along the correct route. There is a guardian crow, too, that protects Tam and is key in the story's finale. The alternating, brief chapters effectively help set the fast pace of the story. Though there may be too many near-death experiences for Tam, creating frustration rather than adding tension to the plot, the subject matter and page-turning intensity will hook animal lovers, including reluctant readers.—Tina Martin, Arlington Heights Memorial Library, IL - Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
 |