Hound Dog True

Hound Dog True
by Linda Urban
Harcourt Children's Books, 2011

Genre: Fiction

Honors:

• Booklist 09/01/11
• Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books starred 11/01/11
• Horn Book 09/01/11
• Horn Book 04/01/12
• Kirkus Reviews starred 04/15/11
• Publishers Weekly starred 07/25/11
• School Library Journal starred 10/01/11

Review: Having had a few bad experiences in her first year of public school, eleven-year-old Mattie is very introverted and shy. In the summer weeks before she starts school again, Mattie dreads her first day backas a fifth grader, and she begins following her uncle, the janitor at her school, around, trying to learn his trade in hopes of convincing him to let her be his apprentice during the school year: maybe that way, she can avoid other people. Then an older girl named Quincy shows up at her neighbor's house for a visit, and she seems to keep appearing in Mattie's life and may actually want to be her friend, despite Mattie's childishness. It turns out, Quincy may be older, but she may be just as unprepared for young adulthood as Mattie. Mattie keeps an honest account of her fears and her plans in her diary, and there, a remarkable story develops, one in which a frightened girl, afraid to grow up, finds a friend and faces the truth about herself.

Opinion: I really identified with the characters in Urban's story. It is hard being on the verge of teenhood when you are a very inward-facing person, and like Mattie, I was one of those awkward pre-teens who always thought I was going to say or do the wrong thing, and I wanted to grow up but I didn't know how to find myself and my voice under all of my bad experiences. Any young girl who reads this book will find a mirror of herself and, hopefully, a bit of comfort.

Ideas: I am inspired by this story, and it makes me think it might be nice to have a share-a-story event, in which participants can share an experience involving themselves or a friend, with someone who has had to face a difficult adjustment in life or overcome a trait like shyness.