Straydog

by Kathe Koja

Book Overview

A powerful debut novel "A female collie mix, so beautiful, all gold and white and dirty; she's in the last cage on the aisle, curled up quiet, watching everything - but when I get too close she goes... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0142400718
• ISBN13: 9780142400715
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Speak
• Length: 105 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 4.3" x 6.8"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Stray dog

This book is about a girl named Rachel and she volunteers At an animal shelter. She meets a dog and she calls it Grr. She is sad and she doesn't have many friends so that's when she starts working at the dog pound. She likes it and she plays with it. The next day she goes down there she helps with what she has to do and when she gets finished she gets to play with the dogs and she picks `grr'

Refreshingly different!

This is my absolute favorite book. Rachel is most definitely not one of those dry protagonists with no emotions or opinions, and this novel is not the typical animal rescue book, in which a girl finds a distrusting stray, takes it home, and in two weeks has trained it perfectly. It is sad, but has a powerful message and was written skillfully so that the reader goes through all the thoughts and emotions that Rachel has. This a great read for dog lovers, but also people who have yet to learn that special bond that never dies in Rachel.

132+

I thought this book was very well written. It is about this girl who is angry and feels trapped, and with no friends at all. She then befriends a collie mix at the animal shelter were she works. But the dog is feral and she has to try and teach the dog (which she named Grrl, sort of like a growl or the way she is feeling)to trust again, but in doing so she has broken out of her own cage and looks at the world and the people in it a different way. It is a very touching story about trust, faith, and courage. Showing the reader to belive and keep going, no matter how over grown the path or how the way may seem flodded or untouchable, that some day it will all come together and the sun will come shining through to reveal a a kinder much better way through the twisted and some what scary path of life. Keep believing don't hide who you are, because your true character will be found. I hope that people who enjoy a good book and likes these stories will pick this up and read it. Oh and if you are wondering why my title is the way it is, because my cat had stepped on the keyboard and so that came up, I don't know how but it has meaning to it. Thank you.

A great read

Straydog is a great book if you need to have a quick read. I enjoyed it the whole way i was reading it. I recomend it to poeple that are animals lovers and maybe work or help out at an animal shelter. The book can inspire someone to maybe save a animals life at the shelter or off the street. This book is a great book and i loved it the whole way. It is sad, inserational, and happy all at the same time!

On my top ten list

Wow! An incredible book! It's been a couple years since I read a book that REALLY socked me emotionally like this one did. I'm a dog lover, but also a teacher of 8th graders. The school scenes and isolation felt by Rachel, the main character, were very realistic, sad to say. Woven through the story is the thread about Rachel writing a piece for submission to a contest. The style of this piece, from the straydog's perspective, is very creative - a real lesson for kids in voice and style. I plan to use this as a read-aloud come fall, but I know for sure I'll have to let them read silently at a couple key points because there is no way I could get through those parts without crying, and I don't just mean a tear or two! If you teach middle schoolers or above, if you love dogs, if you love a book that really touches your heart, buy this book immediately. It really will be on my top ten list, and I have read HUNDREDS of young adult novels.