Arrooooo for Hound Dog True!

HOUND DOG TRUE by Linda Urban (Harcourt 2011) demonstrates once more the power of this author who gave us the impossibly unpredictable A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT. In HOUND DOG TRUE readers will meet Mattie Breen. Mattie is getting ready for yet another new school: this time it will be the one where her Uncle Potluck (yes, that is what the family calls him) is the janitor. Mattie finds comfort in being his assistant in the weeks leading up to school. Perhaps, she thinks, she can assist him instead of sitting by herself at lunch or recess? Things have a way of working out even if they are kind of a "crooked perfect" at the outset. <507>

Telling you any more about the story would deprive you from the sheer pleasure of reading and turning the page and reading more. Mattie is a memorable character as is Uncle Potuck and the Sweet family next door. Add in the principal of Mattie's school and Mattie's mother and you have a story that will touch you in places unexpected. Thanks to Kate Messner for giving me a heads up on the book and to Harcourt for being so kind to send me an ARC which will certainly be handed on to more readers.