Hush, Puppy

Charlie, 11, and best friend Amy have interesting lives. Charlie’s parents own a farm, and his mom is a veterinarian. Amy’s mom works in the vet clinic. Consequently, much of the friends’ time is spent in the clinic, helping wherever they can. Charlie is the “rules guy”. His daily life is involved with following the rules he has written for himself and continues to write as he has new experiences. But all these rules make Charlie seem a little unbending and less sensitive towards people who come to the clinic with animals in need of help, and especially towards Amy. Amy is just the opposite. She is a bright spark who loves animals and people and just loves to help. She is sensitive and thoughtful.

One particular day, Charlie is in the office with a man who is bringing his cat in to be checked by Charlie’s mom. Amy comes in with a plan and poster for her new dog walking business. Suddenly, a car horn starts to blare, the sound sending the kids running to see what is happening. There, they find a man in a car with a swarm of bees on his rear window. Charlie’s Internet search reveals that bees will follow their queen to protect her, and, after a careful search, they find the queen in the back seat of the car. Problem solved, but other issues crop up. The next day a jewelry-eating chocolate lab, a black cat and a Chihuahua who needs stomach surgery and who also hates cats, all arrive to make the day interesting. Weezy, the chihuahua, chases the cat, and Charlie ends up wearing the cat as a hat. Amy gets a job walking the little chihuahua, Weezy, but he must be walked in a very peculiar way. Because of his surgery, Weezy must wear a cone, and his owner insists that Amy wear a cone as well. Charlie makes a big deal of this situation and takes a picture of a very embarrassed Amy, thereby hurting her feelings. Later, Charlie realizes that Amy is not acting like herself, and he must find out why. All of his rules do not help him solve the problem he created with his insensitivity.

This entertaining novel teaches a gentle lesson about being sensitive to the feelings and needs of others, a concept that is sometimes difficult for children to understand. Young readers will enjoy reading about the antics of Charlie and Amy and the animals they meet in Hush Puppy.