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More than anything in the world, Kim wants a puppy of her own
I bought this book at a library book sale because the cover rang a bell. I knew I'd read it as a child and was surprised that I recalled nothing about it. As I began to read, more faint bells rang.
Kim desperately wants a puppy, but her family won't allow it. The entire book is about how she wants a dog, her parents won't let her have a dog, she falls in love with a puppy and scrimps and saves and even hires an elderly dog-sitter so she can have her dog in secret. It's cute, if not terribly memorable. And in terms of engagement with premise, up until the last chapter it's 100% - the book promises a girl and her dog story, and that's exactly what it is.
AND THEN.
The dog-sitter has a heart attack and the secret comes out and she has to move cross-country to be cared for by her daughter... and Kim GIVES THE DOG-SITTER HER DOG. The last page has Kim wiping away tears while going off with her old friend with whom she has no interests in common due to aging apart, with the apparent message that she's learned her lesson that people are more important than animals and to forget about dogs and focus on building relationships with humans.
THAT IS NOT WHAT I WANT FROM A DOG BOOK.
Engagement with premise: This isn't so much a failure to engage with the premise as an utter betrayal of the premise. WTF!!!
Misty and Me
I bought this book at a library book sale because the cover rang a bell. I knew I'd read it as a child and was surprised that I recalled nothing about it. As I began to read, more faint bells rang.
Kim desperately wants a puppy, but her family won't allow it. The entire book is about how she wants a dog, her parents won't let her have a dog, she falls in love with a puppy and scrimps and saves and even hires an elderly dog-sitter so she can have her dog in secret. It's cute, if not terribly memorable. And in terms of engagement with premise, up until the last chapter it's 100% - the book promises a girl and her dog story, and that's exactly what it is.
AND THEN.
The dog-sitter has a heart attack and the secret comes out and she has to move cross-country to be cared for by her daughter... and Kim GIVES THE DOG-SITTER HER DOG. The last page has Kim wiping away tears while going off with her old friend with whom she has no interests in common due to aging apart, with the apparent message that she's learned her lesson that people are more important than animals and to forget about dogs and focus on building relationships with humans.
THAT IS NOT WHAT I WANT FROM A DOG BOOK.
Engagement with premise: This isn't so much a failure to engage with the premise as an utter betrayal of the premise. WTF!!!
Misty and Me
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(Seriously, the number of upbeat animal books I probably would have liked, that I refused to read because my parents bought me THE YEARLING, is rather high! This one sounds like an excellent one to skip, though.)
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But I'd have to read the book myself to know if that is what plays out in the text.
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The weird thing is, as a kid I was definitely annoyed and upset by books where bad things happened to animals and I tried to avoid them when possible... but I find them even more upsetting as an adult. Especially dog books.
We had a family dog that I loved as a kid, but I think there might be something different about being in a parental role to a pet... Now that I've had two dogs of my own, I can't even cope with dogs being unhappy, let alone physically harmed.
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How unfair! I'm glad child me did not run across this.
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