This is another short -- but this time serious -- story from Gary. It seems like a lot of his more recent books are short, almost like he just wants to crank out another story. But some of them, like this one, have substance. Notes from the Dog deals with 14-year-old Finn, who gets talked into spending his summer planting a garden in his own yard for the pretty grad student who's housesitting for Finn's neighbors. She's recovering from breast cancer (which made me wonder if there is or was someone in Gary's life who has or had breast cancer), and Finn and his friend Matt help her all they can. Finn's dog, Dylan, starts bringing him notes which are filled with prophetic sayings. Are they really from the dog? Read the book to find out!
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I mentioned the brevity of this book. My all-time favorite Gary Paulsen book is fairly short -- just 90 pages -- but it's so touching, in more ways than one! It's Tracker. It's the story of 13-year-old John Borne whose grandfather, with whom he always deer hunts, is dying of cancer. So John goes out to track a deer by himself. He hunts a doe that seems familiar to him. Somehow in his tracking, John comes to believe if he can just touch the doe, he can help cure his grandfather's cancer. It's beautiful writing. It's a tear-jerker. It's Gary Paulsen at his best.
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