From the Publisher
★“A small dog, the elderly woman who owns him, and a homeless girl come together to create a tale of serendipity. Entrancing and uplifting.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Evoking innocent and energetic doggy-ish dedication, love, and longing…this title is an excellent book for raising awareness and empathy.” — School Library Journal
“Timely, important, and truly beautiful.” — Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal–winning author
PRAISE FOR A Pup Called Trouble: ★ “An enthralling adventure with emotional heft and read-aloud potential. Fans of Kate DiCamillo, Phyllis Naylor, and E. B. White will treasure Pyron’s book.” — ALA Booklist (starred review)
“A fast-paced, immersive exploration of urban wildlife from a satisfying animal point of view.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Based on real-life instances of coyotes inhabiting Central Park, Pyron’s tale deftly navigates the animal adventure genre with a lively voice. Readers will be captivated.” — School Library Journal
“A sweet tale about something we all yearn for, whether we’re four-footed or two-footed: friendship and a place to call home.” — bestselling author Suzanne Selfors
PRAISE FOR A Dog’s Way Home: “In the tradition of The Incredible Journey and Lassie Come-Home comes a heartwarming, suspenseful tale. An inspiring portrayal of devotion and survival against all odds.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
ALA Booklist (starred review)
PRAISE FOR A Pup Called Trouble: ★ “An enthralling adventure with emotional heft and read-aloud potential. Fans of Kate DiCamillo, Phyllis Naylor, and E. B. White will treasure Pyron’s book.
bestselling author Suzanne Selfors
A sweet tale about something we all yearn for, whether we’re four-footed or two-footed: friendship and a place to call home.
Katherine Applegate
Timely, important, and truly beautiful.
Suzanne Selfors
A sweet tale about something we all yearn for, whether we’re four-footed or two-footed: friendship and a place to call home.
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2019-04-10
A small dog, the elderly woman who owns him, and a homeless girl come together to create a tale of serendipity.
Piper, almost 12, her parents, and her younger brother are at the bottom of a long slide toward homelessness. Finally in a family shelter, Piper finds that her newfound safety gives her the opportunity to reach out to someone who needs help even more. Jewel, mentally ill, lives in the park with her dog, Baby. Unwilling to leave her pet, and forbidden to enter the shelter with him, she struggles with the winter weather. Ree, also homeless and with a large dog, helps when she can, but after Jewel gets sick and is hospitalized, Baby's taken to the animal shelter, and Ree can't manage the complex issues alone. It's Piper, using her best investigative skills, who figures out Jewel's backstory. Still, she needs all the help of the shelter Firefly Girls troop that she joins to achieve her accomplishment: to raise enough money to provide Jewel and Baby with a secure, hopeful future and, maybe, with their kindness, to inspire a happier story for Ree. Told in the authentic alternating voices of loving child and loyal dog, this tale could easily slump into a syrupy melodrama, but Pyron lets her well-drawn characters earn their believable happy ending, step by challenging step, by reaching out and working together. Piper, her family, and Jewel present white; Pyron uses hair and naming convention, respectively, to cue Ree as black and Piper's friend Gabriela as Latinx.
Entrancing and uplifting. (Fiction. 9-12)
