01/15/2018
Animal lovers will embrace this tale of canine dedication with a twist, told from the point of view of the dog. The twist? The dog, a mutt named Brodie, has died and returned from the “in-between place”—despite strong warnings not to do so—in order to save his boy, Aiden, from a frightening, unspecified fate. Both hampered and helped by his ghostly state, Brodie teams up with two other spirits, terrier pal Tuck and Patsy, a rough-talking cat, to find Aiden. Brodie and Aiden’s deep bond and Aiden’s precarious home life are depicted through flashbacks; discussion of souls abounds as does Gemeinhart’s skill for creating page-turning chases and battles—a trio of evil ghostly dogs is trying to steal Brodie and Tuck’s souls. Despite a somewhat jarring turn at the very end when a first-person narrator suddenly appears to help Brodie achieve his well-deserved peace, this emotionally driven fantasy about change and loss keeps its focus solidly on Brodie, credibly rendering the dog’s loyalty, love, and determination to follow those instincts. Ages 8–12. Agent: Pam Victorio, D4EO Literary. (Mar.)
Praise for Good Dog:*"Action-packed, highly suspenseful, and deeply moving. Perfect." — Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewPraise for The Honest Truth:A New York Times Editors' Choice selectionAn Amazon.com Best Book of the MonthAn Indie Next List selection*"An emotionally hard-hitting survival story... A gripping page-turner." — Publishers Weekly, starred review"An impressive combination of suspenseful adventure thriller and cancer narrative... Touching but unsentimental, this is a deeply moving adventure." — Booklist"Gemeinhart presents a rousingly riveting two-hanky read." — Kirkus ReviewsPraise for Some Kind of Courage:A 2017-2018 Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee*"This is true adventure with strong underpinnings of moral courage and love... Poignant and real." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review*"Exhilarating and enthralling, Courage promises even the most reluctant readers a breakneck adventure that will keep them turning the pages with utter devotion." — Booklist, starred review"This is a terrific book, morally thoughtful and wonderfully well told, that 9- to 14-year-olds are likely to cover at a gallop." — The Wall Street JournalPraise for Scar Island:An Amazon.com Best Book of the MonthA Junior Library Guild selection*"Lord of the Flies set on Alcatraz... It's grotesque, compelling, over-the-top, yet fully realized, and nothing like Gemeinhart's previous work. Children who respond to it well will read it over and over again." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review"Holes meets Lord of the Flies in this fast-paced novel... Told with pathos and compassion, this rises above the label of survival story and examines the way truth and redemption are interconnected in one troubled boy's life." — Booklist"A poignant, action-packed story with references to classics Robinson Crusoe and Lord of the Flies... Gemeinhart creates a compulsively readable story with enough teasers to keep the mystery alive until the very end." — School Library Journal
12/01/2017
Gr 3–5—A good-hearted mutt named Brodie awakes from death to find himself in an idyllic landscape, surrounded by other dogs with nothing to do but run and play. As memories intermittently return from his life, he realizes dimly that he must go back to the cold and perilous world to reunite with his loyal boy, Aiden, and protect him from an as-yet-uncertain threat. Along with a Staffordshire terrier called Tuck and an irascible cat named Patsy, Brodie puts his soul at tremendous risk, battling roving hellhounds and learning to navigate the confusing realm of life after death. When he finds Aiden and seeks to confront the boy's abusive father, known only as "the monster," it takes everything Brodie has left to avert disaster. The narrator's voice, apparently omniscient but eventually revealed to be a character in the story, quickly becomes obtrusive and distracting, characterized by stylistic tics such as frequent repetitions of "Believe me" and constantly framing exposition with a sort of rhetorical inquiry ("Because Brodie? His heart had a compass needle that never lost its way."). Despite its mawkish pageant of souls and angels, this novel provides enough dramatic tension and narrative twists to carry dog-loving readers through. VERDICT A secondary purchase for elementary schools and some middle schools where animal stories are in demand.—Bob Hassett, Luther Jackson Middle School, Falls Church, VA
With charm and heart, Lincoln Hoppe narrates this story of a very good dog. Brodie comes to consciousness with no understanding of who or what he is. As he regains his memory of his life as the beloved pet of a child named Aiden, Brodie realizes that he must risk his place in heaven to protect his boy. Hoppe creates appealingly distinct voices for the animals who are the main characters in this story. You can practically see the pit bull’s friendly grin and the disgruntled house cat’s feline sneer. A pack of hellhounds, led by the terrifying Darkley, is genuinely creepy. Despite a sometimes dragging pace, Hoppe’s commitment to the story’s sincerity will have listeners rooting for Brodie and his friends. N.M. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
With charm and heart, Lincoln Hoppe narrates this story of a very good dog. Brodie comes to consciousness with no understanding of who or what he is. As he regains his memory of his life as the beloved pet of a child named Aiden, Brodie realizes that he must risk his place in heaven to protect his boy. Hoppe creates appealingly distinct voices for the animals who are the main characters in this story. You can practically see the pit bull’s friendly grin and the disgruntled house cat’s feline sneer. A pack of hellhounds, led by the terrifying Darkley, is genuinely creepy. Despite a sometimes dragging pace, Hoppe’s commitment to the story’s sincerity will have listeners rooting for Brodie and his friends. N.M. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
★ 2017-11-22
Almost as soon as Brodie arrives in a beautifully realized dog heaven, he remembers that there is something he must do.It takes him a little longer to recall the specifics of this imperative. It's his boy. His boy, Aiden, the one who provided him with the beloved ball game "Away. And Back," needs him desperately. The boy is in terrible danger. Exuberant dog's dog Tuck, "all run, all wag, all toothy smile," reveals that there is a way to go back to Aiden's world, although only as a spirit and only with the understanding that going there imperils an animal's soul. Tuck, with unfinished business of his own, bravely accompanies Brodie back to the world of the living, where the pair, along with an edgy ghost of a cat, Patsy (she didn't pick her name), join forces against a pack of vicious, driven hellhounds that want nothing more than to consume the good dogs' souls. Their unending pursuit adds urgency to Brodie's quest for Aiden even as the source of the white boy's peril is gradually, terrifyingly revealed. Readers learn early on there is a violent force in Aiden's life, though details of exactly how close and exactly how violent are meted out carefully, controlling the pacing and ramping up the tension. The third-person narrator keeps the plot moving swiftly forward while providing a dog's-eye interpretation of events and a running commentary on the revered nature of good dogs. Action-packed, highly suspenseful, and deeply moving. Perfect. (Fiction. 10-14)
