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Hound Dog True (2011)

by Linda Urban(Favorite Author)

3.82 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0547558694 (ISBN13: 9780547558691)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

Harcourt Children's Books

review 1: Urban, L. (2011) Hound dog true. New York. Harcourt Children's Books.Kirkus Starred ReviewedFiction Choice: Contemporary RealismMattie is a young girl that seems to always be the "new girl" at schools because she bounces around from place to place with her mother. One of her biggest struggles is how shy she is. Instead of wanting to socialize with her new classmates she ends up spending her time helping her uncle who is the janitor for the school. Mattie learns that her uncle really understands her social anxiety and she has an easier time talking to him about life's problems than her own mother. Throughout Mattie's journey she does stumble upon a friend that helps her work through her fears as true friends do. This was a wonderful book and I really enjoyed reading it... more because of the social anxiety themes. Students that have varying degrees of social anxiety will enjoy reading this book and looking up to Mattie. I think this book would be best used as a read aloud in a classroom during the school's bully awareness month. It can help students understand what some students might be going through.
review 2: I really enjoyed this novel. Linda Urban perfectly captures what it feels like to be a shy 10 year-old. Although I was never as cripplingly shy as the narrator of this book, I still recognized many of my own thoughts from way back when in Mattie. The book traces Mattie's attempt to make her first real friend and Mattie's special relationship with her uncle. It also showcases Mattie's love of writing. It's funny, I received this book last year for free as part of a scholastic offer. I didn't really give it much thought, and none of my students read it. I wish I had read it then; I definitely would have recommended it to several students. It would be the perfect book for any child who is shy or feels like an outsider, although other students would enjoy it as well. (I would probably recommend it exclusively to girls). Weaker readers would enjoy this one because of the short length and relatively easy vocabulary. less

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