Review by Booklist Review
Harvey, a Westie, loves his young owner Maggie, but while she's away on a family vacation, Harvey's sitter doesn't latch the gate properly. The little white pup escapes and wanders into new parts of the city. Hungry, thirsty, and dirty, he finally rests behind a planter at Brayside Retirement Villa, where he is discovered by Austin. Austin has been working off a detention by assisting his grandfather with custodial work at Brayside. The residents, employees, and Austin fall in love with Harvey. One crotchety resident, Walter Pickering, even begins reminiscing about his 1930s childhood and a beloved dog of his own, and Austin and Harvey are hooked (as are readers). What begins as a story of a dog and two kids evolves into a historical look at Mr. Pickering's much simpler, yet complicated, life. Throughout, alternating third-person chapters from Maggie, Harvey, and Austin give readers a rounded view of each prominent character. The title clues readers into the final outcome, but it's the middle that moves the plot along. Dog lovers will drool over this multi-generational story.--J. B. Petty Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Harvey, a curious little white West Highland terrier, roams away when his dogsitter forgets to latch the gate.Although his getting lost is frightening and heartbreaking for both Harvey and Maggie, his bereft young owner, it's providential for Mr. Walter Pickering, a very elderly resident of a continuing-care facility, and for Austin, who volunteers therekind of. His service is actually payback his grandfather is exacting for a big mistake involving firecrackers that the lonely 11-year-old made in school. Pickering has always been gruff and reclusive. But after friendly Harvey turns up at the facility (and remains there because Austin, desperately wanting the dog, fails to look for his owner), the man begins to tell Austinand Harveyhis vividly realized, sometimes brutal tales of growing up on the Saskatchewan prairie during the Dust Bowl. In these short episodes, readers learn how young Pickering befriended impoverished Bertie, who was abused, then abandoned by her drunken father but, being a young girl of rare spirit and determination, survived. Accompanied by his own beloved dog, Pickering and Bertie navigated the immense challenges of the era, their woeful experiences almost subsuming the primary plot in which Austin and Maggie both persevere in their own difficult situations. Affecting, riveting, and evocative, this character-driven tale within a tale, with narrative perspective alternating among Harvey, Austin, and Maggie, believably reveals the best and sometimes the worst of human nature. The cast defaults to white.Much more than a lost-dog story. (Fiction. 10-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
