This will be a difficult review, as there was a lot to like in this book - but I also have a few small issues with it.

SPOILERS AHEAD.

Let's start with the issues. The first is probably the manner in which the story works - we meet Harvey, who accidentally runs away from home and is lost, only to be found by a young boy called Austin, who doesn't want to give him back to his rightful owner. But the majority of the book is about a different character and his memories of growing up in depression-era America. That's fine, but instead of showing this story through a flashback structure, the story is told to young Austin - and I don't quite believe that a man in his nineties would be able to tie a story like that together so convincingly, inventing dialogue and all the little details that go with it. I understand that the writer wanted Austin and Harvey to be present in these chapters, but I think there was a better way to go about it.

The second issue is that there is a massive change in tone towards the end. The story is written in a very young reader-friendly way, right until the end; one dog has a leg amputated, and the father of one of the other characters is found dead, with maggots crawling on his skin. This comes out of nowhere, and if my 8-year-old had been reading the story, this could have had a bad effect on her.

The final issue is that the story races towards its conclusion, and for this there needs to be a deus ex machina (some unknown character - unless I missed something - mentions that they'd seen Harvey on the other side of town, which puts Harvey's owner and his current guardian together, without Austin ever having to really grapple with his conscience and decide to return the dog) and the old man who had been telling the story then passes away - which works to an extent, but the idea of him suddenly wanting to go outside seems just a touch too neat.

These are my main concerns, but with those points borne in mind I would still recommend this book to slightly older readers - say, 11 or 12 years of age and up - because there is a good story here, and good characters; I know that Colleen Nelson has written a sequel to the tale, and if I come across a copy, I'll certainly read it, ( )