Publisher: North Star Press of St. Cloud
Release Date: March 1, 2014
Tramp may seem like a regular dog, but he is anything but ordinary. When Tramp is taken from his home and sent to a neighborhood pet store, all he cares about is finding a family. Little does he know that those friends from the pet shop will become part of his work as a detective. Smart, quick, and able to understand humans, Tramp sets about to solve a mystery with the help of the animals and humans that he has come to know and love throughout his neighborhood.
I readily admit I have never been a dog lover. I know I know, this is sacrilegious to those who are, but I just can't help it. Lucky for me there are some wonderful cats in this story too. Tramp is a very extraordinary dog besides. Able to understand humans and make himself understood, Tramp is sure to catch the interest of its intended audience. At first I was a little unsure as to why the author decided to start the story at the pet shop as it didn't seem to have any relation to the overall plot which I originally thought was just about a dog finding a family. However, as promised, the story is a thrilling mystery in which the beginning is cleverly tied into the plot in a way that felt organic and yet a bit magical.
There isn't magic in this book per se, and yet the anthropomorphic nature of the animals did have that sense of fantasy that every child (and some adults) wish their pets had. We wish that the understood us. In a way they do. Reminiscent of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and Poppy & Rye, Tramp is a fun adventure story with a slightly dark twist that really shows what it means to be a friend and part of a family.
The advance reader copy of this book was provided to me by North Star Press of St. Cloud and Bill Kennedy for review purposes.
1 comments:
Tramp is very pleased to have Calico, a cat, as a friend & colleague. He is also very happy with the Children's Atheneum review.
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