Hero

The book ‘Hero’ by Jennifer Li Shotz is only Wesley Banks 100 Best Dog books of All Time (his list for 2022). It is good, and I enjoyed it, but I give it a solid 4. It is pretty good for a book geared for youth. I think when you reading it as an adult, you have to put yourself in your youthful self-shoes but the adult part of you still has some questions on things. The adult side has questions.

The dog Hero is great. A retired Search and Rescue police dog. My adult side questions why a dog that seems still so strong can just retire after all the investment that has to go into them, but let’s run with it that this Police force likes to allow them to retired before they slow down or have issues. Hero like his name is great. At one show more point the main character Ben describes one aspect of him:

The dog was so… alert. If Ben so much as twitched his pinkie finger, Hero noticed. It was like Hero’s whole body and mind were in sync, absorbing everything around him. Whatever Hero did, he did wholly and intentionally. That’s what Ben needed to do. His dad called it “acting with purpose.”

Part of that leads to my second discussion about the book, is that the author is working positive messages into the book that the boy has to learn and eventually come to the right conclusions. I like this in a book. Things like getting so involved in something you forget things you should be doing, or lying rather than tell the less than positive truth are common lessons growing humans need to learn. It is good when he learns the lessons on his own instead of just have a parent in the book give him the answer. I liked how Ben gives more than the benefit of the doubt to the questionable kid I the book. There was one piece of advice I liked that was given to him:

“When your dad feels overwhelmed,” she went on, “do you know what he does?”
Ben shook his head.
“Even if he’s in the middle of an investigation, he stops, figures out what he’s not doing right and how he could do it better, and he comes up with a new plan. He doesn’t sit around feeling mopey, that’s for sure,” his mom said.

The story does involve a tough topic; dog fighting, including where the boy has to defend himself or others from a bad guy. There is a point where he has to decide to go in where the bad guys are when the right answer is ‘just call the Police!’ Hero and the young dog have occasions where they have to attack people or fight other dogs. I wonder how a Labrador would really do fighting the dogs they use for dog fighting. I think where the dog has to attack people are realistic enough, but you still worry for all involved. In the old days a dog could bite a bad guy and we just cheered, us grown ups now have to thing about litigation, but all in good fun in fiction so I just go with it.

Hard to write a review so you don’t give things away, and yet express discussion points to talk about after they have read the book. Hope my comments are good on both points.

So, I really did like the book but not enough to give it a enthusiastic 5 stars, much less for me to add to my personal shelf of ‘dogs-favorite-books.’ It was a lot better written than most of the other books geared to youth. For younger kids it could spur some good discussions. I know Jennifer Li Shotz has a lot of other books and I look forward to reading them. show less

The book ‘Hero’ by Jennifer Li Shotz is only Wesley Banks 100 Best Dog books of All Time (his list for 2022). It is good, and I enjoyed it, but I give it a solid 4. It is pretty good for a book geared for youth. I think when you reading it as an adult, you have to put yourself in your youthful self-shoes but the adult part of you still has some questions on things. The adult side has questions.

The dog Hero is great. A retired Search and Rescue police dog. My adult side questions why a dog that seems still so strong can just retire after all the investment that has to go into them, but let’s run with it that this Police force likes to allow them to retired before they slow down or have issues. Hero like his name is great. At one show more point the main character Ben describes one aspect of him:

The dog was so… alert. If Ben so much as twitched his pinkie finger, Hero noticed. It was like Hero’s whole body and mind were in sync, absorbing everything around him. Whatever Hero did, he did wholly and intentionally. That’s what Ben needed to do. His dad called it “acting with purpose.”

Part of that leads to my second discussion about the book, is that the author is working positive messages into the book that the boy has to learn and eventually come to the right conclusions. I like this in a book. Things like getting so involved in something you forget things you should be doing, or lying rather than tell the less than positive truth are common lessons growing humans need to learn. It is good when he learns the lessons on his own instead of just have a parent in the book give him the answer. I liked how Ben gives more than the benefit of the doubt to the questionable kid I the book. There was one piece of advice I liked that was given to him:

“When your dad feels overwhelmed,” she went on, “do you know what he does?”
Ben shook his head.
“Even if he’s in the middle of an investigation, he stops, figures out what he’s not doing right and how he could do it better, and he comes up with a new plan. He doesn’t sit around feeling mopey, that’s for sure,” his mom said.

The story does involve a tough topic; dog fighting, including where the boy has to defend himself or others from a bad guy. There is a point where he has to decide to go in where the bad guys are when the right answer is ‘just call the Police!’ Hero and the young dog have occasions where they have to attack people or fight other dogs. I wonder how a Labrador would really do fighting the dogs they use for dog fighting. I think where the dog has to attack people are realistic enough, but you still worry for all involved. In the old days a dog could bite a bad guy and we just cheered, us grown ups now have to thing about litigation, but all in good fun in fiction so I just go with it.

Hard to write a review so you don’t give things away, and yet express discussion points to talk about after they have read the book. Hope my comments are good on both points.

So, I really did like the book but not enough to give it a enthusiastic 5 stars, much less for me to add to my personal shelf of ‘dogs-favorite-books.’ It was a lot better written than most of the other books geared to youth. For younger kids it could spur some good discussions. I know Jennifer Li Shotz has a lot of other books and I look forward to reading them. show less

A cute dog story for late elementary school age kids. Hero is a retired police dog, adopted by Ben, the son of a policeman. Together, they discover a small, abused puppy, whom Hero immediately adopts, and Ben too. Turns out that the puppy Scout escaped from a dog-fighting enterprise, who want Scout back, and Hero too. Meanwhile, Ben has a lot going on, with baseball tryouts and a new kid in town, Jack, who plays shortstop too. Predictable and helpful to suspend belief to enjoy the story.

Today’s quiet afternoon was the perfect opportunity to enter into the world oh Hero, Scout, and the humans (good ones and cruel ones) who surround them. It’s also a story of many levels of friendship and responsibility

Asian bookbox; When police dog Hero is retired, he is placed with his handler's family, with teen Ben taking primary responsibility. Ben and Hero find a stray puppy that they find out is part of a dog fighting ring. Hero's police skills are a bit much, but all turns out well in the end.

Good book for boys or girls. A little violence due to dog fights.

Independent Reading Level: 3rd-5th grade
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