What the Dog Knows

Well, what does the dog know? Lots of things, apparently, such as: that love, especially the sort of all-accepting love that is expressed physically by lots of tail waggings and licking, will improve almost any tense situation that isn't made better by drooling; that food is the next best thing after love, and doing what someone would like you to do, especially if it is going to be rewarded by food, will also make everyone happy. And how does Naomi know that dogs, i.e., her own dog Diesel, knows these things? Therein lies the tale, as they say, following on from the excerpt above.

After Diesel has been hit by the red Smart car, and is Dead, as in D.E.A.D. Dead, and Naomi has tried, to no effect of course, all sorts of re-runs in her head to make it not be so, she allows herself to be persuaded to go swimming at the beach (in spite of the fact that she can't actually "swim" as in "keep herself afloat") where she jumps into deep water off the end of the dock on a dare, hits her head on a rock, and apparently dies herself! However, the next thing she is conscious of is that she seems to be alive after all, but in her back yard with a sore head and Diesel licking her face. The clock has, in fact, turned back, and it is exactly one week prior to her accident, and before Diesel's as well!

Knowing his supposed fate, Naomi now has the opportunity to do the re-run she has thought through so many times! The real difference is that now she can hear in her head what Diesel is thinking and trying to say and can somewhat understand why he takes off after buses ("Smells bad!" "Beware!" "Large noisemaker approaches!"). She can also hear, and sometimes act upon, his suggestions for what she could do that might bring "her pack", that is, her father (Diesel's "Alpha Male") and mother ("Alpha Female") back together again after he has been kicked out of the house for totally irresponsible behaviour. Diesel also has ideas about how Naomi can get accepted into the group of Grade Sixers who are going to be starting Junior High in the fall and perhaps begin to be less of an outsider nerd and more trusting of the friendly overtures that Morgan, one of the group, seems determined to make.

All the time this is going on, however, Naomi's watch is flashing the time of her accident, and, as the past that she is living gets closer and closer to the present that she once lived, she gets more and more nervous and more and more protective of Diesel, in spite of his reassurances that he "will keep her safe". Fate, however, cannot be denied. Diesel does, indeed, get hit by a red Smart car, but Morgan is even Smarter and not only gets the license number of the car, but locates it, and persuades the driver that it is in her best interests to pay the vet's bills. Whew! Naomi's college fund is saved from total extinction. The Fates are still lurking, however. Naomi still jumps into deep water, but this time it's to save her dog; she can swim (sort of, thanks to the lessons Morgan has insisted on giving her), and Dad has a chance to show off his lifesaving expertise by performing mouth-to-nose respiration on Diesel. Everybody lives; the Pack is reunited; Diesel stops talking in Naomi's head; and her watch starts working. What's not to like!

Indeed, what's not to like in this novel? Nothing, actually. We can all empathize with Naomi, wanting to be accepted yet not knowing how, loving both her parents but realizing just how different -- and, therefore, annoying -- each can be to the other. Morgan is the imperfect friend who, nevertheless, is just what she needs to help her, in spite of not being encouraged to do so, and Diesel -- well, he "speaks" a lot of good sense, as well as nonsense, but most of his insights are just as understandable as actions as from his actual mind-talk. I can't think of a category of reader who won't love this book. Sylvia McNicoll has done it again.