| Nonfiction |
Summary
Summary
Michael was four when his relentless campaign for a dog began. At seven, he made a PowerPoint presentation, "My Dog," with headings like "A Childhood Without a Dog Is a Sad Thing." His parents, Janet and Rich, were steadfast; bringing a dog into their fast-paced New York City lives was utterly impractical. However, on a trip to Italy, a chance happening leads Janet to reconsider, a decision then hastened by a diagnosis of breast cancer. Janet decides the excitement of a new puppy would be the perfect antidote to the strain on the family of months of arduous treatments for her illness. The prospect of a new puppy would be an affirmation of life, a powerful talisman for them all. On Thanksgiving weekend, soon after the grueling months of treatments are over, Huck, a sweet, mischievous, red-haired toy poodle, joins the family and wins everyone's hearts. A few months later, the family ventures to baseball's spring training, leaving Huck with Janet's sister in Ramsey, New Jersey. Barely twenty-four hours into the trip, Janet receives the dreaded phone call: Huck has slipped through the backyard fence and run away. Broken-hearted and frantic, the family catches the first plane to New Jersey to begin a search for their lost puppy. It is a race against time, for little Huck is now lost in an area entirely unfamiliar to him, facing the threat of bears and coyotes, swamps and freezing temperatures, rain and fast cars. Moved by the family's plight, strangers-from schoolchildren to townspeople to the police lieutenant-join the search, one that proves to be an unyielding test of determination and faith.Touching and warm-hearted, Huck is a spirit-lifting story about resilience, the generosity of strangers, and hope.
Reviews (1)
Kirkus Review
A city family discovers the kindness of country strangers in its search for a lost puppy.Since the subtitle ofNew York Timessenior editor Elder's pet memoir alludes to happy endings, it's hardly giving the plot away to say that her prodigal subjecta small, red-haired toy poodlewas eventually brought back to the fold. Much of the book chronicles the logistical and emotional struggles of the four-day search-and-rescue operation that Elder, her husband and her son initiated in and around Ramsey, N.J., immediately following Huck's untimely escape from Elder's sister's home. During that trying extended weekend, these Manhattanites experienced the warmth of countless Bergen County residents as many joined them in bracing against the chill of March to seek out the lost Huck. "We learned a lot about the heart of a small town and the extraordinary level of concern one stranger can show another," writes the author. "We learned a lot about ourselves, too, about tenacity and grit and our devotion to one another." It's fairly standardDewey-type fare, but what makes her account peculiar is the framing. Elder acknowledges that "Huckis a part of the chapter of my life titled cancer," but she prefaces the minutely detailed search and reunion with young Huck with a jarringly vague gloss of her diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer just prior to Huck's arrival in her home. Peppered with tedious encyclopedic descriptions of numerous would-be rescuers, this journalistic tale somehow overlooks salient details of her treatment and reckoning with a life-threatening illness. Such sanitization makes the memoir most appropriate for a YA audience.Overly sentimental, this feel-good story may leave adult readers wanting.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
