by Michael Sotto
ages: 8-10
First sentence: “Momma told me that there is a time in a puppy’s life — right around its second birthday — when it just starts to get it.”
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Release date: November 15, 2011
Review copy provided by the author.

Although she is just eight years old, Latasha can handle quite a bit. Her mother has finally finished her schooling and has gotten a job as a nurse, and Latasha can get herself to and from school. (And doesn’t need the “baby”sitter that her mother insists upon her having!) She can handle making friends. She can handle the reading challenge at school. She just doesn’t know if she can really handle her puppy, Ella, who is a complete handful.

Over the course of the book, Latasha realizes that while she can handle a lot of things by herself, sometimes it’s better to have the help of friends. Which includes her energetic, but loveable, puppy.

This book skews younger than I normally read, but it works great on the level of a early-chapter-book reader. Latasha is a spunky girl, and the novel has a great voice; Latasha’s personality just shone through. In addition, while it’s a story simply told, it never felt like Scotto was talking down to his readers, which is a common difficulty in books like these. The relationship between Latasha and her mother and her sitters are complex, and while issues such as cheating or boy-girl friendships come up, they’re dealt with in ways an 8-year-old can relate to.

In short: hand it to an 8-year-old who loves dogs, and you’ll probably have a very happy reader.