A review by marinaschulz
A Dog's Way Home by W. Bruce Cameron

adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

This was a cute story, but truth be told I'm a little amiss as to who is the target audience. On the one hand, the narrator, a puppy called Bella, has a very simple language that could almost be for children, but then the topics that are addressed in passing are at times a little harsh - animal brutality, depression, homelessness, drug use. It's a little jarring that the puppy-narrator doesn't seem to understand all that's happening (especially i.g. drug use), but that as a reader you are aghast and are shaken internally and hoping that every turns out okay. 

Inspite of the simpler language this book was surprisingly difficult to put down. I really found myself rooting for Bella and her human (even though usually the human characters weren't very deeply developed). There's some kind of magic that the author bottled into this book, because it really made me emotional: at times I smiled, at another time, I nearly cried. I may pick up more books by this author, but for now I'm just happy knowing that Bella found her way home.
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