Christine Bongers

Had read this before but read again for VPRC competition. Start of the book is great - Kat wakes up with an intruder in her bedroom who is scared off by her next door neighbor, Edwina. Kat has an awkward life - her mother died of cancer a few years ago, and Kat believes that Edwina and her father betrayed her dying mother by having an affair because she saw them in a compromising position. This means her relationship with her father is strained and she doesn't talk to Edwina at all.
Her father has to work in a band most nights, so Kat is often left alone in the house, and of course, she can't tell anyone or the dad might get into trouble with Child Welfare.

So now an intruder has made his presence known, what is she to do? She can't go to Edwina or the police. The solution presents itself in the form of a guard dog Hercules. Kat takes Hercules to the local dog park and meets a local boy called Al who offers to help her.

Suspenseful story set in a small town with adorable characters at the dog park, who all want to help Kat catch the bad guy, who has escalated his crimes to ringing her at home at night and even poisoning the dog!… (mais)

2.5 stars

This book was a very easy read but not a very good one. Kat, the main protagonist, suffers from grief, loneliness and betrayal but, I must say, she wasn't very likeable. I found her to be very self-absorbed, selfish and moody, so I never really connected with her. On the other hand, I loved Hercules, her dog. He was ungainly, ugly, loyal and a delight, and brought lighter moments to the novel. The ending was contrived and too convenient to be believable, so while the book started well, the plot lacked pace and the plot fell in a heap by the end.… (mais)

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, which I picked up for my son and ended up reading myself. It was funny, and I love hearing an aussie voice, and places I actually recognised. What was surprising was that it had some real story to it, I think I was expecting boys and monsters and girl germs and toilet humour. But it really told the story of how hard it can be to be a kid, with the hassles of the school yard, and wondering what's going on all around you, and having no power to change anything. Throw in a single parent family and you have a story that kids can really relate to. And it did all that while being entertaining. A great book to get your boys to read. I can see why this book was shortlisted by the Childrens Book Council for Book of the Year.… (mais)