Huck by Janet Elder: Book Review

Huck by Janet Elder Book Cover

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3 Stars

When Janet Elder was diagnosed with breast cancer, she and her husband promised their twelve-year-old son Michael that they would get him a puppy as soon as she was better. They realized that life is too short to deny their son something he so desperately wanted, but they also knew that she would be in no condition to care for a puppy for a while.

True to their word, they got Michael a red toy poodle, whom he named Huck and whom they all immediately fell in love with. They couldn’t imagine a life without Huck in it. Then, while they were on a much-needed vacation and Huck was staying with Janet’s sister in New Jersey, the unthinkable happened. Huck ran away. The family immediately returned to start looking for their dog, and they found unexpected help throughout the small town of Ramsey, New Jersey.

This was a heart-warming story, but, being honest, I didn’t find it very unexpected. I think being from a small town (it’s not even technically a town) and living my whole life in a couple of small towns within half an hour of home skewed my perspective a little. I would have been more surprised if the people they came across didn’t offer to help. Pretty much every business in the small towns I know have a community board to post lost dog signs and business cards. That said, this was a reminder not to take that for granted. Huck and his family live in New York, and they were amazed that perfect strangers spoke to them, helped them look, and let them post Lost Dog signs.

That’s really about all I have to say. Huck sounds like a very sweet dog, and animal lovers of all kinds will enjoy this tale of “hope and happy endings.”

Thanks to Broadway Books for sending me a copy for review via Shelf Awareness.

Read an excerpt.

Find Huck on the website and Facebook.

Buy Huck: The Remarkable True Story of How One Lost Puppy Taught a Family–and a Whole Town–About Hope and Happy Endings on

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2 Comments

  1. This sounds like a cute, sweet story that takes the usual course and offers no surprises. But I honestly could stare at the cover of Huck for a long time as he is adorable! He looks like a little stuffed animal!

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