VVMBookBlog

The title of this book refers to a scar two twin brothers, Will and Denny, have on their fingers where they have sworn their loyalty to each other as brothers. But they are twins in name only as Denny is disabled in his mental and some physical abilities, and his appearance is different from Will’s.

After the accidental death of their mother seven years ago, Will has been forced to take on the responsibility of caring for his brother so their father can run their ranch in 1940’s Colorado. But Will has trained himself in all the rodeo skills and only wants to leave the ranch to be a rodeo star and lead the life of a cowboy. When his father says he can’t leave for the upcoming rodeo he’s been practicing for, Will decides to take off on his horse and go anyway. He hadn’t gone far when he looked back and there was Denny following him. Then bad things start happening, beginning with a rattle snake biting Denny.

Characters in books usually have some kind of effect on me, depending on how it relates to my life experience. (Remember I’m old and have 2 grown daughters.) If the main character is a kid and adults around him/her are doing something stupid or mean, I become very protective of the kid. But sometimes the kid as the main character just does stupid things, and all I can think is, “What are you thinking?!” That was the case for this book. While I understood why Will needed to do something to declare his independence from caring for his brother his whole life, it was his attitude and the things he continued to do that just made me angry. “Don’t do this to your brother!”

I listened to this book on CD so maybe it was the rather whiny way it was read that affected my opinion. It actually annoyed me so much, I almost didn’t finish it. But I pressed on to get to the pretty satisfying ending with lessons learned all around.

The Last Dog on Earth by Daniel Ehrenhaft

Logan Moore has a list of everything he hates which changes constantly because his life is not that great. His father abandoned him when he was seven and his stepfather, Robert, is a JERK (this my belief as well as Logan’s). Unfortunately most of the time his mom goes along with the crazy ideas her husband has such as sending Logan to “boot camp.” Although Logan does make some bad choices, he does not deserve the punishments given to him by Robert.

Before they send Logan to “boot camp,” they try to teach him responsibility by getting him a dog. Unfortunately Robert’s idea of a dog and Logan’s are completely different. Logan wins this one and gets a dog from the pound. Actually he is doing a great job training it even though Robert is appalled when it goes pee outside in the yard. According to Robert he should pee on the sidewalk. Yes, he really is a jerk. A series of events happen and Logan is forced to go to “boot camp.”

While all of this is happening a dog disease is infecting most dogs and some humans. People are going crazy and shooting dogs. The disease is horrible, and it seems that all dogs will eventually need to be killed. Remember the title is The Last Dog on Earth.
I recommend this book for anyone who believes that dogs are incredible animals.

Did you read Private Peaceful? Well, here’s another book written by that great author, and this one also takes place during World War I in Europe. One small difference…this book is told from the point-0f-view of a horse named Joey! In Cracker about the dog in the Vietnam War, we got part of the story as if it were told by the dog. But in this book, the whole story is told by Joey. (Sounds strange, but it works!)

Joey was first sold in an auction in England to a poor, drunk man who was the father of 13-year-old Albert. Albert immediately fell in love with Joey and trained him to be a good farm horse. Times got tough in England when the war started, and in order to get some money so they could keep their house, Albert’s dad snuck Joey to town and sold him to Captain Nicholls, a cavalry officer. He recognized that Joey was a fine horse, and kept him for his own.

Next Joey finds himself with Captain Nicholls in northeastern France, in the heat of battle with the Germans. World War I was a point in history when they began to question the wisdom of using cavalry troops mounted on horses. Conducting warfare with the enemy in WWI was done from the trenches that were dug to shelter the soldiers, and they often set up a barrier of wire just in front of the battle line to protect their own trenches. Troops mounted on horses would have to look for a place to get through the wire in order to attack the enemy or the horses hooves would get caught up in it and get injured. Joey managed to get through one of these barricades, but later the battle went bad for the English, and Joey and his horse companion, Topthorn, were captured by the Germans.

And that’s where I’m leaving the story for now. Joey’s life takes several more turns–some good, some bad. The rest again confirms what I’ve learned from other books about WWI, and that is that it was one of the most horrible wars, fought under the most horrible conditions, and often it seemed like the soldiers on each side could just as easily have been friends as enemies. Some miracle-like things happen, beyond the idea that the story is being told by a horse! I’m not even a big fan of horses, but it really pulled me into the story. That’s what a great author can do!