From ALSC: "This humorous and wondrous adventure of a boy and his magical dog is a timeless coming-of-age story marked by masterful world-building." From Kirkus: "A hilarious, heartfelt triumph."

Sweet story full of fantastical adventures and love of family, friends and a super special dog. The owl head people were really weird and interesting! ( )

Clay and his family are stuck in their home due to the global sickness. The three siblings (14-year-old DiRossi, middle child Clay, and younger sister Juniper) must share the family's one computer to finish their schoolwork until they are free for the summer - but without friends, it's not the summer they dreamed up. But when a strange, milk-white dog with red ears appears, and Clay adopts her, life gets a lot more interesting. Elphinore is an elf-hound from the People Under the Mountain, and she's able to show Clay places he never knew existed - including an old-fashioned village of owl-headed people, where he meets Amos. The two have tremendous adventures together, culminating in a masked party on Midsummer's Eve, when things go horribly wrong - and are set right.

A timely and timeless fantasy. See also: The Secret of Platform 13; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; Rez Dogs; The Eyes and the Impossible

Quotes

Juniper was the only person who could be a know-it-all and still at the same time know nothing. (Clay, 21)

...as if her family was a headache she always had. (DiRossi, 66)

He knew that she was somehow bringing him to places that he never could have reached on his own. (Clay and Elphinore, 69) ( )

This was a fun, middle-grade fantasy novel and I like that this book takes place during a pandemic and that we get to see the family struggling financially and emotionally. I think a lot of kids will relate to that aspect of the book. I wish I could have an elf hound now, they sound beautiful. Pete Cross did a great job narrating this book, he managed to make each of the characters sound like the voice of a person that age (i.e. the children sound like children and the giant sounds very old). I will definitely look for more books narrated by Pete Cross in the future. ( )