Andy Behrens

(From March 2010 SLJ)
The classic underdog story goes canine. Twelve-year-old Kevin Pugh leads a comfortable couch-potato existence. While Howie Pugh recalls the glory of playing for the Chicago Bears and tries to motivate his son to follow in his footsteps, Kevin is content to leave athletic glory to his younger soccer-playing sister and to limit his own football exposure to the video-game variety. All of this changes, though, on the day that Kevin, flipping through channels, tunes in to the show more Purina Incredible Dog Challenge just in time to see a terrier shatter the agility course record. Cromwell, a dog as sluggish as his owner, is mesmerized, and begins racing around the basement in his own attempt at agility coursing. The dog’s fascination with racing does not fade, and Kevin halfheartedly enrolls Cromwell in a training program. When he attempts to mention it to his father, Howie dismisses dog agility as something less than a real sport. Although they are incredibly clumsy throughout their weeks of agility training, boy and dog manage to pull off a miraculous win in their first competition, and are suddenly qualified for the agility championship at Chicago’s United Center. The days following are anticlimactic: even after the win, Howie is unimpressed with Kevin’s and Cromwell’s efforts; they are not able to come anywhere close to the time they achieved during the Invitational; and Kevin is feeling like more of a loser than ever. In the nick of time—just as Kevin is ready to walk out of the United Center without competing to avoid completely humiliating himself—his father shows up, announces that he has been wrong and that Kevin is a winner no matter what, and inspires Kevin to get out there with Cromwell and leave the more experienced dogs in the dust yet again. In spite of the clichéd plot and caricaturish secondary characters, Behrens writes with an engaging style that will appeal to both reluctant and seasoned readers. He has created a likeable protagonist, and students will relate to Kevin’s self-deprecating humor. As for Cromwell, unrealistic though his newfound passion and talent for agility might be, his perseverance gives anyone with an unrealized dream a nice little glimmer of hope. show less

The Pugh family is full of characters. Howie is a former Chicago Bears player that loves the fan interactions and radio guest spots that come with former football stardom. Maggie is an organized mom who juggles kids and her husband’s personality. Izzy is a soccer champ in the under 11’s with championship trophies and sports aphorisms out the wazoo. Kevin is part boy, part couch. He’s awful at sports. He’s worse than awful at sports, though oddly enough, he’s a genius at videogame show more football. Then there is Cromwell is part beagle and part potato chip. No one is sure if he smells like the old basement couch or if the couch smells like Cromwell since he rarely moves off it. Nothing is likely to change about any of this until Cromwell sees a dog agility contest on TV. Suddenly he is running unintentional obstacle courses in the backyard and getting himself stuck halfway through the tire swing. He brings his leash and demands walks.

Before he knows what has happened Kevin is working with a trainer at the Paw Patch dog agility school and his best friend has jerseys made for “Team Cromwell” in preparation for the glory and sponsorship deals that are going to come pouring in when Cromwell takes his place in the annals of dog agility history. First they’ve got to get Cromwell to finish one of the courses instead of destroying it. And Kevin has to figure out how to tell his family that he’s more interested in training with Cromwell instead of practicing football. show less

"Ian began describing his courtship with Danielle, selecting the details carefully. He portrayed their relationship as something that had evolved slowly, naturally, and sweetly (when in fact it had evolved in a week, largely through deception, ans mostly because Ian had been a complete sphincter). Still, Ian gushed to his friends about all the good qualities he could only hope Danielle possessed."

Poor Ian. He's got no luck with girls. His friends have all been out of town for the summer. And show more he has spend most of his vacation behind the counter at Dunkin Donuts (except for the parts that he's spent inside the giant donut costume!) When he accidentally meets a real-live college girl over the internet, he can't help but tell a few fibs to make himself seem like a catch. Before he knows it, he's planning and end of the summer road trip to meet up with this mystery girl. And then his two best friends find out about it. Then things get really complicated! Andy Behrens spins a laugh out loud tale about two boys, two girls, one car, and a sad, sad donut costume.

Request this title from Howard County Library at http://tinyurl.com/2kff78 show less

A quick, fun read. The characters' repartee is wickedly funny and well timed. This book is laugh-out-loud funny but also very tender. Recommended.