A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin

From the Publisher

“I can’t speak for all dogs.
Not all dogs are alike.
And most certainly, not all dogs
have the same experiences. . . .”

Squirrel is not like most dogs. Born a stray, she must make her own way in the world, facing busy highways, changing seasons, and humans both gentle and brutal. Her life story, in her own words, is marked by loss, but also by an inspiring instinct to survive. And when it seems she will roam the woods and country roads alone forever, Squirrel makes two friends who, in very different ways, define her fate.
At once heartrending and hopeful, Ann Martin’s exquisite story of a dog’s life is told with her trademark grace and insight.

Publishers Weekly

Martin's latest, told from the viewpoint of the title character-a pooch named Squirrel-could well be a primer for potential dog owners: it's a cautionary tale chronicling just about everything not to do as a canine caretaker. Dillon reads with a calm and sympathetic voice, relating how poor Squirrel is abandoned and mistreated by humans, and becomes a scrappy master of survival as she wanders the streets searching for her brother, Bone, from whom she was separated early on in life. Dillon makes certain that listeners will feel the relief and slow-emerging joy Squirrel experiences when at last she finds a kind and loving owner who truly wants-and even needs-her. Though Martin is sometimes inconsistent about what Squirrel does and does not know, listeners will be too hooked on the emotional notes and occasional dramatic moments here to mind. Ages 9-up. (Nov. 2005) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

John Jacob - Alan Review

A dog named Squirrel and her brother Bone are followed from their birth until their separation. In portraying stray dogs, Newbery Honor winner Ann M. Martin also discusses and shows the various ways people treat strays, from ignoring them to trying to kill them to treating them well. Squirrel understands many things that a dog probably cannot, including human speech, so readers will have to suspend their disbelief in reading this book. Martin's writing is elegant and insightful. The story is realistic, though at times disheartening because of how we often treat stray animals. Squirrel stays away from feral dogs when she can, but she is injured and is lucky to have a family take her to a vet for surgery. Still, these people leave her behind. Eventually she finds a home with a woman who treats her as a companion. 2005, Scholastic, 244 pp., Ages young adult.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-From the comfort of her new home, a dog provides a retrospective narrative of her 10 years as mostly a stray. Squirrel's voice is consistently gentle, even as she describes her surroundings and life-changing events. She describes the circumstances of her birth, and conveys sadness and grief upon the disappearance of her mother, separation from her brother, and fear when fighting mean, starving dogs. Perhaps it is her sweet nature that makes her complacent about life on the run, but it also makes her story less compelling. Avi's The Good Dog (S & S, 2001) and Sarah Clark Jordan's The BossQueen, Little BigBark and the Sentinel Pup (Tricycle, 2004) also have canine narrators but convey many rich, satisfying details about what it smells and feels like to be a dog-details that are missing here. Nevertheless, libraries with dog lovers and Martin fans will want to give this book a home.-Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Following the tradition of other realistic animal stories, this moving account of a stray dog's life experiences is told from the canine perspective. Born in a garden shed, Squirrel and her brother Bone are raised by their mother, who teaches them to hunt and avoid humans. Life is good for the puppies until their mother disappears and doesn't return. When the adventurous Bone sets out into the world, Squirrel follows, afraid to be on her own. But along a busy highway, the puppies are soon separated forever and Squirrel is alone. She manages to survive winter and finds Moon, another stray. The two travel together, raiding garbage cans, eluding dogcatchers and fighting off a band of hungry dogs until Moon is killed by a truck. Alone again, Squirrel stoically moves from town to town, encountering both kind and cruel humans, and aging as the seasons pass. Speaking matter-of-factly, Squirrel accepts life bravely and in the end, finds the loving home she deserves. Heart-wrenching as well as heart- warming. (Fiction. 10-14)

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