Book Summaries
Puppy with a Purpose
In the real world, mice, cats, and dogs do not live in harmony. However, there’s a puppy that is determined to change all of that.
In the real world, prejudice exists among social classes of people. However, there’s a young boy who wishes it were different.
Innocence may be the key to unlocking these injustices. However, will it be enough?
Puppy With A Purpose (31,500 words) takes place in an upper-middle class neighborhood where a lower-middle class family has recently moved. The boy from the new family is teased at school for being average, which is below average according to their scale. Early in the story he is approached by an old man, who gives him a “special” puppy, or so the old man says.
The puppy, Fluffy, knows he is special but does not know exactly why. Fluffy is selected by the leader of the mice to be a spokesman to speak to the leaders of the dogs and cats in order to call a truce. Fluffy then believes his whole purpose in life is to bring peace to the feuding mice, cats, and dogs.
The well-developed characters are witty, funny, and heartwarming. They’ll have the reader laughing, crying, and wanting more.
The story switches back and forth from the community of people to the community of animals. There are two separate story lines that intertwine near the highly emotional conclusion.
Thurman Thinks Thrice
Thurman, a fifth grade boy, is a daydreamer. He tends to find himself daydreaming all the time. He's a good boy, however. He doesn't always want to be good, but because he's so cautious, he tends to stay out of trouble. Thurman gets mischievous ideas all the time, but when he thinks about what could go wrong, he usually decides not to do it, that is, if he can come up with at least three bad consequences as a result of his actions. Will Thurman ever get to do the wrong thing? The bully of the story, Wilson, "The Killer" Myers doesn't help matters.