Buster by Caleb Zane Huett

By Nate Feldman



Buster the dog is in big trouble!  He has violated one of dogkind's most sacred codes.....never let humans know how intelligent dogs really are and that they are able to communicate with one another!  But, Buster revealed this to Tonio, his young owner, and now he is at dog court and will be sentenced to life on the farm, a form of punishment for bad dogs, if found guilty!

Buster admits to the court that he is guilty as charged, but he recounts why he showed Tonio the secrets of the dog world.  Tonio lives in a small town in South Carolina with his parents.  Tonio suffers from severe anxiety and has massive panic attacks often.  For that reason, he struggles socially with other kids.  

Buster is a service dog for Tonio to help him deal with his anxiety.  He wants Tonio to make friends, so Buster tries to connect him with Mia, a girl in town who likes card games like Tonio does.  

Tonio's anxiety continues to get in the way of his ability to make friends, so Buster feels he needs to intervene, something that goes against the code dogs must follow, lest humans should find out how much dogs really understand about the human world.

I adored this book for a couple of reasons.  First of all, I am a passionate dog lover, so I enjoyed reading a book where the dog was the narrator.  Furthermore, I liked that the human protagonists were kids that have been ostracized for a variety of reasons.  I feel the book gave a voice to people who have often been overlooked by mainstream literature, programs, movies etc.  

It's a cute, fun to read story with a great message, so I give it a 10/10!



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