Mountain Dog
Illustrator
Olga Ivanov; Aleksey Ivanov
Publisher
Square Fish
Publication Year
2014
ISBN
9781250044242
Pages
240 pages
Genre
realism
Format
chapter book; novel in verse
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
When Tony's mother is sent to jail, he is sent to stay with a great uncle he has never met in Sierra Nevada. It is a daunting move―Tony's new world bears no semblance to his previous one. But slowly, against a remote and remarkable backdrop, the scars from Tony's troubled past begin to heal.With his Tió and a search-and-rescue dog named Gabe by his side, he learns how to track wild animals, is welcomed to the Cowboy Church, and makes new friends at the Mountain School. Most importantly though, it is through Gabe that Tony discovers unconditional love for the first time.
Grade Level
3-5; 6-8
Lexile Measure
990L
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; Kinship care; Incarceration; great-uncle raising nephew; mother in prison
Main Character
male child
Race/Ethnicities
Hispanic
Family Formation
mother and great-uncle
Awards
Cybils Awards, 2013, Nominee, Middle Grade Fiction
International Latino Book Award, 2014, Honorable Mention, Best Young Adult Book
Parents' Choice Award, 2013, Silver, Fiction
Best Children's Books of the Year, 2014 Nine to Twelve-Fiction-Adventure and Mystery
Kirkus Book Review Stars, 2013
NYC Reads 365, 2015 Grade 5th - 6th
Keywords
man's best friend; rescue dog; innocent; learning to love; culture shock; Sierra, Nevada
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Engle, Margarita, "Mountain Dog" (2014). Diverse Families. 1822.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/1822