The Field of the Dogs

by Katherine Patterson 

    I was kind of surprised that two books I read as interlude to a hefty doorstopper, had lots of similarities. Both feature animals that can talk to a kid, who gets subtle help from them in dealing with an unpleasant relationship. In this case, Josh has many unpleasantries to deal with- his family has just moved, there's a new baby and a stepfather in the house, and a kid at school picks on him. He's not used to the deep snow and cold of Vermont, and the other kids call him "Flatlander". One day he trails his dog to an empty field where it romps with some other neighborhood dogs. He's surprised to hear the dogs talking to each other, although when he confronts them about it, they just wag their tails and pretend ignorance. Josh soon finds out that his dog and its buddies have a problem with a gang of bigger dogs threatening them. He hatches a plan to solve both his problem with school bullies, and scare off the bigger dogs- but it involves sneaking his stepfather's gun out of the house, which he's forbidden to touch. Although the same in length, this book is much more serious than the pony one. Fair warning: there's dog fights and other injuries that occur. I was a tad disappointed at some lack of depth- for example, when Josh helps take his dog to the vet, she tsks at how many dogs have been getting hurt lately, and tells him how to care for the wound at home, but there's no description of her inspecting or cleaning it herself! I found omissions of some detail like that odd. But it's still a good story. I also liked that the dog isn't suddenly talking all over the place and making plans with the kid. Even though the dog knows that Josh knows- he still keeps to just ordinary dog behavior most of the time, not acting otherwise unless really compelled to.

Rating: 3/5                   99 pages, 2001