2016-05-14
"My dog, Maxi, dies," warns Timminy at the start of this friendship tale set in small-town Maine. After preparing readers for the inevitable, the white boy comforts them (and himself) with memories of how Maxi—a huge, deaf Great Pyrenees—helped him to make friends and cope with a bully after starting middle school in a new town as a "shrimpy kid." Walking with Maxi, he meets Abby: the "blindest" and "blackest" kid in school, who has no patience for his troubles. The old trope of sassy disabled and/or black characters dispensing tough love is mitigated here by explanations of blindness and "blind talk": funny, surprising, and gross ways to describe particular qualities of what Abby can't see. Maxi—"a marshmallow in the middle of a big bowl of broccoli"—ultimately reveals similar qualities in her humans, finally coaxing sympathy from Abby and exposing a bully Timminy calls "the Beast of the East" as a nice guy, while Timminy learns to laugh at himself. Maxi's death may prompt a few sniffles, but Timminy's coping strategies could help readers dealing with the loss of a pet. A short subplot mentions MIRA, a real organization that provides guide dogs to kids. Each chapter is summarized by a "secret": an aphorism that applies to life in general. Though purposive, this earnest boy-and-his-dog tale makes a strong case for Secret No. 11: "There's nothing so bad in the world that dog kisses won't make it better." (Fiction. 9-12)
When a BIG, lovable, does-it-her-way dog wiggles her way into the heart of a loudmouth pipsqueak of a boy, wonderful things happen that help him become a bigger, better person. With its diverse cast, authentic narrator, and perfect blend of spot-on middle-grade humor, drama, and wisdom, this powerful debut is relatable, funny, bittersweet, and full of heart.
Timminy knows that moving to a new town just in time to start middle school when you are perfect bully bait is less than ideal. But he gets a great consolation prize in Maxi-a gentle giant of a dog who the family quickly discovers is deaf. Timminy is determined to do all he can to help Maxi-after all, his parents didn't return him because he was a runt. But when the going gets rough for Timminy, who spends a little too much time getting shoved into lockers at school, Maxi ends up being the one to help him-along with their neighbor, Abby, who doesn't let her blindness define her and bristles at Timminy's “poor-me” attitude. It turns out there's more to everyone than what's on the surface, whether it comes to Abby, Maxi, or even Timminy himself.
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Timminy knows that moving to a new town just in time to start middle school when you are perfect bully bait is less than ideal. But he gets a great consolation prize in Maxi-a gentle giant of a dog who the family quickly discovers is deaf. Timminy is determined to do all he can to help Maxi-after all, his parents didn't return him because he was a runt. But when the going gets rough for Timminy, who spends a little too much time getting shoved into lockers at school, Maxi ends up being the one to help him-along with their neighbor, Abby, who doesn't let her blindness define her and bristles at Timminy's “poor-me” attitude. It turns out there's more to everyone than what's on the surface, whether it comes to Abby, Maxi, or even Timminy himself.
Maxi's Secrets: (Or, What You Can Learn from a Dog)
When a BIG, lovable, does-it-her-way dog wiggles her way into the heart of a loudmouth pipsqueak of a boy, wonderful things happen that help him become a bigger, better person. With its diverse cast, authentic narrator, and perfect blend of spot-on middle-grade humor, drama, and wisdom, this powerful debut is relatable, funny, bittersweet, and full of heart.
Timminy knows that moving to a new town just in time to start middle school when you are perfect bully bait is less than ideal. But he gets a great consolation prize in Maxi-a gentle giant of a dog who the family quickly discovers is deaf. Timminy is determined to do all he can to help Maxi-after all, his parents didn't return him because he was a runt. But when the going gets rough for Timminy, who spends a little too much time getting shoved into lockers at school, Maxi ends up being the one to help him-along with their neighbor, Abby, who doesn't let her blindness define her and bristles at Timminy's “poor-me” attitude. It turns out there's more to everyone than what's on the surface, whether it comes to Abby, Maxi, or even Timminy himself.
Timminy knows that moving to a new town just in time to start middle school when you are perfect bully bait is less than ideal. But he gets a great consolation prize in Maxi-a gentle giant of a dog who the family quickly discovers is deaf. Timminy is determined to do all he can to help Maxi-after all, his parents didn't return him because he was a runt. But when the going gets rough for Timminy, who spends a little too much time getting shoved into lockers at school, Maxi ends up being the one to help him-along with their neighbor, Abby, who doesn't let her blindness define her and bristles at Timminy's “poor-me” attitude. It turns out there's more to everyone than what's on the surface, whether it comes to Abby, Maxi, or even Timminy himself.
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Maxi's Secrets: (Or, What You Can Learn from a Dog)
Maxi's Secrets: (Or, What You Can Learn from a Dog)
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940172139598 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Penguin Random House |
| Publication date: | 11/13/2018 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Age Range: | 10 - 13 Years |
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