Smart Dog

When a young girl helps a talking dog escape from a research lab, she finds herself in deep trouble. Amy Prochenko is only in fifth grade, but she already has a sixth grader's problems: She is wildly unpopular, she is the target of prissy Kaitlyn Walker's nastiness, and everyone thinks she and the dweebiest boy in class are an item. Then one day Amy meets Sherlock, a dog on the run from a university lab. Sherlock is not like other dogs: He can talk, he's smarter than most of Amy's classmates - and he needs Amy's help. Suddenly Amy's life is full of danger and excitement, and she finds she is becoming, of all things, popular. Best of all, she finds in Sherlock the sort of friend she's always longed for - the sort of friend she must protect no matter what the cost.

A young girl helps a talking dog escape from a research lab.

Publishers Weekly

F-32 (or Sherlock, as he comes to be named) is a smart dog indeed--he has escaped from a university research lab where a scientific experiment has endowed him with speech and all sorts of other signs of intelligence. Unfortunately, the experiment is scheduled to end in the dissection of his brain; fortunately, Sherlock stumbles upon Amy, a painfully unpopular fifth-grader who is only too happy to help him. As she concocts a series of plans to keep him safe, Amy finds herself growing in confidence and courage. Although the supporting characters are familiar types (the smart nerd with the heart of gold, the mean-spirited popular girl, the evil vivisectionist), the enduring fantasy of a talking pet is rendered with an abundance of charm and wit. Sherlock is endearingly doggy and his academic abilities are humorously limited. For example, he can work a computer (he likes the games), but he gums up the keyboard by typing with a pencil eraser. As he and Amy try to figure out a solution to his problems, he asks her, Do you want to scratch my belly while you're thinking? His attempts to replicate the behavior of regular dogs will have readers giggling. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)

Fifth grader Amy Prochenko is wildly unpopular. Then one day Amy meets Sherlock, a dog on the run from a university lab. Sherlock is not like other dogs: He can talk, he's smarter than most of Amy's classmates--and he needs Amy's help. Suddenly Amy's life is full of danger and excitement, and she finds she is becoming, of all things, popular. Best of all, she discovers in Sherlock the sort of friend she's always longed for--and one she must protect no matter what the cost. Fifth grader Amy finds her life growing complicated when she meets and tries to hide an intelligent, talking dog who has escaped from a university lab. Fifth grader Amy finds her life growing com plicated when she meets and tries to hide an intelligent, talking dog who has escaped from a university lab