Friday, December 23, 2011

Hound Dog True (MG)

Hound Dog True. Linda Urban. 2011. Harcourt. 152 pages.

Uncle Potluck said when he talked to the moon, the moon talked back.

I just loved, loved, loved A Crooked Kind of Perfect. (I've read it three times!!!) And I wanted to love, love, love Hound Dog True too. Did I? Well. For the most part. What I loved about A Crooked Kind of Perfect--the humor--was missing a little in Hound Dog True.

Hound Dog True feels more serious perhaps. The heroine, a young girl named Mattie, is extremely shy. And she's super-super nervous about starting school at a new school after yet another move. She has never really had a friend--a close friend. And while she can manage being friendly, she has yet to find a friend. So she's scared and nervous and unsure and oh-so-lovable. She's afraid of rejection, afraid of being laughed at, afraid of not belonging, of never belonging. And I, for one, could never laugh at this situation.

Hound Dog True is charming and quirky. In its own way. I just loved, loved, loved Mattie's writing. The way she carried around a notebook. And the developing friendship between Quincy and Mattie was great. Just very, very sweet.

There were so many details that made this one work well. I would definitely recommend it.

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

2 comments:

Ms. Yingling said...

Interesting to hear what you thought. This one has some very strong supporters. I was not one of them.

Taylor said...

My mom read this book. She said she liked it. But, she felt sorry for the girl Maddie, because she felt out of place.