32 pages, Grades 2-5, Realistic Fiction, ISBN 978-1481442275.
This book is based in 1962 when a stray dog was found under a pile of boxes at a Coast Guard base on Government Island. A man named Dave Bunch found this dog and immediately fell in love with her, he named her Vera. When he took the dog to the rest of the crew, they decided to hide her from the commander because they thought that he would not approve. However, when the time came and Vera was needed, she proved herself worthy to be on their ship. Vera showed her swimming ability and determination when she was able to save the people on another boat at sea that was sinking. The whole crew quickly fell in love with this dog. Vera was treated as a hero and as one of their very own men, and this becomes apparent at the end of this story.
I really loved this book by Patricia Polacco, she does a very good job at portraying the thoughts and feelings toward Vera and how important she was on this journey. I personally love anything that has to do with dogs and/or the military, but as a future elementary school teacher, this is a book I would definitely have in my library for my students to read. This book does contain some vocabulary that younger students may not understand, so I would recommend teaching them the vocabulary before or during reading it to them. I also think this book would be better for the higher grades or being cautious with the younger grades because the ending may be too sensitive for the younger students. The illustrations in the book were my favorite, they portrayed the feelings of the characters accurately and represented the happiness of Vera throughout the book. Overall, if I were to rate this book, I would give it a 5/5 for the storyline, illustrations and accuracy.
Reviewed by Jordyn R.
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