I can just picture the author asking a room of kids what they wanted her to write about in her next book and hearing "Ghosts!" "Dogs!" "Secrets!" What's amazing is that she made them work together so well, for a story that teaches us good ways to help abused animals, and is an adventure with drama, humor, scary bits, and themes of family & friendship.

There's a knitting plan for cat blankets. Links to resources. Guidelines to incorporate citizenship lessons into the classroom that will actually enable children to make a real difference. A bit about how to recognize, and report, a meth lab. Respect for service people (father died in Iraq). A cue to discuss whether dogs are property, and therefore what's the difference between rescuing or stealing one.

Of more universal relevance is a bit when Rusty tries to get a different decision from his mother: "Sometimes it's best to keep my mouth shut and let Mom think things over. If I argued now, she might feel compelled to defend her original position, but if she had time to ponder the problem, she might decide [otherwise]."

I wish there was a new cover, as this one is just wrong. ( )

Ghost

00012979

Rusty is in the sixth grade and always wanted a dog but his mom can’t afford to one for him. She is a single mom because his dad died in the war. Every day Rusty walks by a German Shephard that is chained up and neglected in the freezing rain. He tells his mom and calls the humane officer but they say he needs proof for them to do anything about it. After some time and an idea he got from school to help get rid of puppy mills he starts to sneak food to the dog with help from his friend Andrew. One time while he is in the dog’s yard the ghost of a white collie appears in the yard but disappears around other people. One night the ghost dog gets Rusty to visit the dog who seems injured so he takes the dog to his fort for safety. Rusty and his mom take the dog to the vet for shots and are able to get a contract for them to keep the dog. The owner finds out that Rusty stole his dog and threatens him and his mom but the police get involved and find out the owned has a meth lab in his house. The ghost dog finally disappears for good since it served its purpose of helping the German Shephard that Rusty named Ri.

After reading the description in the scholastic page I really wanted to read this book but I was a little disappointed. It was a book that made me feel good since an innocent dog was rescued but it wasn’t a good as I thought it was going to be. I really love dogs so I like to read books about them whenever I get the chance. Although I was very disappointed, the book was made a little better by the ghost dog and Rusty putting it soul at peace. In my opinion the deserved a rating of 3 ½ due to the mystery storyline and ghost appearance. I recommend this book for anyone who likes to solve mysteries. ( )

Great ghost story/animal story for middle school! ( )

A good ghost story with a generous helping of mystery and suspense and an animal welfare message. ( )

This book was amazing, and heart stopping at the same time. It was a real sad,funny, outstanding, and amazing. it is awesome how a little boy saves a 2 year-old dog! ( )

Do you believe in ghosts? How about ghost dogs? When Rusty's mom took a different route to drop him off at school, he saw a dog chained in a yard with no food, water, or shelter. He checked on the dog after school to see if anything had changed - the dog was still there, laying in the dirt with no food or water, but now it wasn't alone. Another dog stood next to it, not a real dog, a see through dog made up of cloud wisps, a ghost dog. Rusty and his friend Andrew bring food and water to the dog, taking pictures to document its mistreatment. When the ghost dog visits Rusty in his room at night, Rusty finally knows it is time for him to take matters into his own hands and rescue the mistreated dog - or is he stealing him?

Hmm ... How to deal with this book? I liked it - enjoyed it even. But it's kinda outside what I usually read. It's a kid's book, see? And If I were eleven or twelve I probably woulda loved it. My problem is I'm nearly 67 years old, so I felt a little strange reading it. A story about a "ghost dog," I mean. I kept thinking of my 3 year-old grandson who has a collection of trains by GeoTrax and has a video about the trains he watches, one of which is about a 'ghoooooost train,' which causes him to shiver deliciously everytime he says it. Little kids like ghosts, like to be frightened - at least a little, in a safe setting, anyway. So I suspect young kids would like GHOST DOG SECRETS in the same way, and in the same way teenagers and young adults like vampire and werewolf and slasher films. Me I don't like any of those kinds of films anymore. I prefer my books and films to be more adult in nature. But that doesn't mean I don't remember being of an age when I loved books that were about dogs and horses. All those Albert Payson Terhune collie books? Read 'em. The Jim Kjelgaard Irish Setter books? Read 'em. The Silver Chief Dog of the North Books? Them too. The Wild Dog of Edmonton? Valiant Dog of the Timberline? Lassie Come Home? Call of the Wild? White Fang? Juneau the Sleigh Dog? Kazan the Wolf Dog? Beautiful Joe? Read 'em all, and a lot of other dog books I can't even remember anymore. I gobbled 'em down like tater chips.

Peg Kehret knows how to spin a story about boys and dogs, and this one about Rusty and Ra is a good one. She also knows how to use rising and falling actions and how to leave you hanging at the end of a chapter so that you have no choice but to start the next one even if Mom is calling you for supper, or telling you to go outside and play, it's a beautiful day, getcher nose outa that book ferachange, fercripesake. Those cliffhanger endings were typical to all those Hardy Boys books my brothers and I devoured back in the fifties, and yeah, the same kinda hook worked for Nancy Drew and Cherry Ames. (Oops, I'm a guy, I'm not supposed to know that, am I? Too late.)

Besides being a pretty gripping story, there's lots of 'redeeming social value stuff' in here too, about how awful cruelty to animals can be, how to be a good son, having a social conscience and doing some community service, good vs evil. Hey, there're even some sure enought 'bad guys' in here running a meth lab and abusing their guard dogs. And this is real life kinda stuff too. I know, because there was a meth lab discovered just a couple blocks from my house a year or two ago and guess what? There was a huge bull mastiff chained to the garage outside, who looked awful darn skinny. The meth guys kept him lean and mean. This Peg Kehret knows what she's writing about. But you can tell too just how much she loves dogs - and understands pretty well that most kids do too. All these things together, well, they make for a pretty good book.

Enough said, I suppose. I liked this book. I'd give it five stars, but I'm too old. If you're under twelve and love dogs though, you'd better give it five stars. It deserves it. ( )