Margaret Finnegan

*I got this book for review from the publisher*

I thought this was a cute contempory themed middle grade novel. I like how this book had a unique premise but also tackled not common characters seen in books in both Hank and Maisie. I really liked how their friendship also developed throughout the book. I really also liked the mini adventure elements in this novel. I enjoyed how this book also focused on a relationship between children and dogs. I really enjoyed this read and would def read more by this author in the future.
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Hank, who is autistic, gets in trouble at school for trying to set his teacher's book on fire because it makes him so sad when she reads it aloud. This gets the attention of new classmate Maisie, who ropes Hank into a scheme to steal/adopt her elderly neighbor Frank's dog Booler, who is always tied to a tree in his yard. When Frank's daughter shows up and begins talking about a move to assisted living in Minnesota, Maisie convinces Hank that they need to take Booler and run away until the daughter is gone.

See also: Just Harriet by Elana K. Arnold, Looking for True by Tricia Springstubb, A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold

Quotes

"Stories teach us empathy, to understand and care about how other people feel." (Mom, 10)

It was like he and Booler were watercolors. The dog's loneliness became Hank's loneliness. The dog's fear became Hank's fear. (20)

"Nothing is wrong with me. Different is not less." (Hank to Maisie, 33)

...real friends don't make you change for them, real friends accept you for who you are... (78)

Hank loved listening to Frank's stories. They were like excavations - not for precious metals or jewels, but for the past. (128)… (more)

I laughed out loud several times while reading Margaret Finnegan's "The Goddess Lounge." This is her take on "The Odyssey," which I haven't read. But you don't have to know Homer's work to enjoy this book. Finnegan's writing is profane, outrageous and divine.

Petrea Burchard
Camelot & Vine

Read my full-length review on Hometown Pasadena at:
http://hometown-pasadena.com/books/what-were-reading/the-goddess-lounge-2/51147.
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