Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Eleven-year-old Sydney has a problem named Fred. He's a retired bomb sniffing dog that her wounded veteran dad brought home with him from the war. Dad suffers from PTSD and only talks to Fred. Mom copes with the stress by working more. Sydney handles homework, household chores and a bully at school all on her own. This is not the perfect family she dreamed of while he was away.
Sydney wishes she was a dog so Dad would talk to her too. When her wish is granted her disappearance as a kid causes a breakdown that puts her dad in the hospital. Sydney's inner strength bubbles up as she struggles with life as a dog on a journey that opens her eyes to what Dad and Fred endured in Afghanistan. The journey changes her and magically she is returned to her human form. Her wish ultimately heals them all and gets her closer to her perfect family.
Synopsis
A retired bomb-sniffing dog named Fred teaches Sydney his philosophy of kindness, about the Star Path, and how to survive on the streets. Good thing, too, since she's been magically transformed into a small brown dog. Dad's PTSD has the whole family on edge. Sydney tells her best friend Rachael that she wishes she were a dog so that her dad would talk to her like he does with Fred, the German Shepherd he brought back from Afghanistan. A magical bus driver grants her wish and sends her on a harrowing journey, narrated by a strong female lead character who is seeing life from the perspective of a four-legged mutt.
This touching, action adventure, humorous fantasy, Teen and YA family fiction, follows Syd's journey from kid to dog and back. Along the way she meets other stray retired war dogs and forges a canine family that helps her understand her human parents.