Module 5 – Flawed Dogs: The Shocking Raid on Westminster
Breathed, B. (2009). Flawed dogs: The shocking raid on Westminster. New York: Rosebud Productions. Fiction
Summary
This fantasy magically brings a dachshund and his new friends together so he can prove once and for all that he, Sam, is not the evil one. In the beginning, Sam is saved by his new human friend, Heidi, from an overstuffed furry dressed lady that claims to be his master. He escapes and Heidi ends up bringing him home, but only to lose him when Cassius, a jealous poodle, sets him up to look like a baby murderer. He spends the next three years trying to survive and figure out a way to get revenge. With a group of mutts from the National Last Ditch Dog Depository, they disguise themselves like a contestant and disrupt the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club dog show. When he sees Heidi, he wants to believe that she could still care about him, but once again Cassius makes him believe otherwise. Cassius tries to kill Sam and Heidi finds out that the evil doings were Cassius all along.
My Impression
This tale is a magically adventurous turn of events with laughter and tears along the way. I wanted Sam to be able to tell her that it wasn’t him, but only the human reader knows what the dogs are saying in the story. The humans in the story only hear barking. It was wonderful to see “the underdogs” help save the day and find homes for themselves too. Each dog had a “flaw” that kept them from originally being adopted. After their flaws helped Sam, they learned to appreciate themselves for the things that made them so different.
Library Setting
This novel could be used to teach students about how special differences are. At an age where so many children fear being different, it can help teach them that the things that make them unique are the very things that make them one of a kind. Students could partner up with another student in class and talk take turns talking about their least favorite quality about themselves. Their partner could help them come up with a list of ways that this quality could be helpful.
Reviews
Grades 4-6. After forging a brilliant career as a cartoonist, most notably with Bloom County, Breathed applied his well-honed artistic skills to picture books and now takes his first stab at novel writing. His worldview of the lovable loser skewering pomposity is a natural fit for middle-graders, as is the dog-centric nature of this tale. The plot follows Sam the Lion (actually a dachsund), admired by dog-show types for his rare genetic tuft of hair, who is cast out by his adoptive family due to the machinations of a jealous poodle. Over the next few years, any number of terrible/zany adventures befall Sam (including losing a leg and having a soup ladle tied on in its place) before he’s reunited with his owner and justice is done. The story is essentially an animated cartoon in prose form (complete with a mutts-piled-on-top-of-each-other-dressed-as-a-human gag), but Breathed proves an able writer, laying on plenty of over-the-top ebullience that should perk the ears of kids’ inner underdog. A bevy of Breathed’s signature bulbous illustrations—a few in color—add some body to the story.
(2009, Oct 15). Booklist [Review of the book Flawed Dogs: The shocking raid on
Westminster ]. Retrieved from
http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=c10961bcca5f05fde919419b6f86897a
Breathed's fans won't be surprised by the dark tone of this outlandish tale, but readers expecting a heartwarming pet story may be taken aback by the difficulties that face Sam, the canine hero. Luckily, smooth writing and humorous exaggeration make it relatively easy to get through the violence of a dog-fighting ring, the perfidy of an envious poodle and three long (mercifully undescribed) years in a research lab. Characterization of the humans is sketchy at best, but the various canine and feline players are an endearing mix of odd attributes and engaging personalities (except for the murderous poodle). Sam's clever plot to infiltrate the Westminster dog show combines the suspense of an over-the-top caper film with the slapstick of the Marx Brothers (Mrs. Nutbush bears a striking resemblance to Margaret Dumont). Clearly growing out of, but not a simple expansion of, the 2003 picture book of the same name, these pups' tale carries the same message of caring and concern and will likely worm its way into the hearts of readers able to persist through the problems and pain. (Fantasy. 10-14)
(2009, August 15). Kirkus Review [Review of the book Flawed Dogs: The shocking raid on
Westminster ]. Retrieved from
http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=c10961bcca5f05fde919419b6f86897a
Bloom County cartoonist Breathed (Pete & Pickles) makes the move from picture books to middle-grade fiction and, from the harrowing opening scene at a dog fight, readers will be rapt. After spending eight years isolated at a boarding school in Minnesota, 14-year-old orphan Heidy McCloud is invited to live with her dejected uncle Hamish, greedy Mrs. Beaglehole and their evil poodle, Cassius, on the vacant McCloud Heavenly Acres dog ranch in Piddleton, Vt., "Home of the World's Most Beautiful Dogs." En route, Heidy meets Sam, a Du glitz dachshund worth $180,000, and a reciprocal, platonic love is born. However, Cassius resents the attention Sam receives and sets a trap resulting in the dachshund's imprisonment in a pound with "the seven most ridiculous dogs [Sam] had ever seen," as well as Sam's suffering an awful injury. But the dog's determination to reunite with Heidy doesn't wane. Dramatically lit and featuring comically exaggerated characters (human and canine alike), Berkeley's b&w artwork augments the story's drama and humor. A moving tale about the beauty of imperfections and the capacity for love. Ages 8-12. (Sept.) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
(2009, July 20). Publishers Weekly [Review of the book Flawed Dogs: The shocking raid on
Westminster ]. Retrieved from
http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=c10961bcca5f05fde919419b6f86897a
Gr 3-6-This chapter book is a spin-off of Breathed's 2003 picture book of the same name (Little, Brown). Sam the dachshund was bred to be an award-winning show dog, right down to his priceless "Du glitz tuft." But Sam has no interest in appearances; like all dogs, beautiful or "flawed," all he really wants is to belong to someone special, and to be loved. After a dramatic escape from his frightful new owner, he sneaks into a girl's luggage and soon wins her affections. But Cassius, a champion full-size poodle and denizen of Sam's new home, is not accustomed to being second in anyone's heart and is determined to get rid of him. What follows is a series of misadventures for Sam and a group of abandoned animals from the National Last-Ditch Dog Depository. Featuring some harrowing moments, this is not a story for the faint of heart, but readers will definitely be rooting for Sam and his comically imperfect band of followers. Black-and-white and full-color illustrations, done in the award-winning author's familiar style, are sprinkled throughout, adding depth to an already engaging and well-paced tale.-Jessica Marie, Renton Public Library, WA Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
(2009, Nov 1). School Library Journal [Review of the book Flawed Dogs: The shocking raid on
Westminster ]. Retrieved from
http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=c10961bcca5f05fde919419b6f86897a
Module 5 – Uglies
Westerfeld, S. (2005). Uglies. New York: Simon Pulse. Fiction
Summary
This scientific novel takes place in a society where normal people are ugly and everyone dreams of becoming pretty when they turn 16. The main character, Tally, lives in a world long after ours. When the characters talk about the older civilization, they call them/us the Rusties. They have been taught in school that when Rusties were alive, they were wasteful of the land’s resources and there was so much violence because everyone got so caught up in their own jealousies that they stopped treating everyone with fairness and respect. That was the old way of living. The new way of living (makes e think of a cult like lifestyle) practically brainwashed them from the age of littlies to the age of 16. They were taught to think that they were ugly and when they turned 16, they would be turned pretty. Being pretty meant parties and happy people everywhere. No one was sad and no one fought. After her best friend, Peris, turns nearly 3 months before her Tally is left to spend the summer alone. After she sneaks over to the other side to see him, she meets a girl named Shay. Shay thinks that she is an amazing trickster and teachers her how to hover-board and about the Ruins and the Rusties. After Shay runs away, Tally is forced to go find her and she Tally learns what really happens when you are turned pretty.
My Impression
Teenagers are very impressionable and it is sad to think that another adult would want to make them believe and feel that they are ugly. I love that Tally finds out the truth before it is too late, and learns to stand up for what she believes in.
Library Setting
This book also talks a lot about what can happen to the environment if people don’t take care of it. This could be taught with a lesson on ways to preserve the environment and also data and research (findings) that could be collected to display what can happen when too many trees are cut down, or about pollution, or even the effects of poaching.
Reviews
Gr. 7-10. Fifteen-year-old Tally's eerily harmonious, postapocalyptic society gives extreme makeovers to teens on their sixteenth birthdays, supposedly conferring equivalent evolutionary advantages to all. When a top-secret agency threatens to leave Tally ugly forever unless she spies on runaway teens, she agrees to infiltrate the Smoke, a shadowy colony of refugees from the "tyranny of physical perfection."At first baffled and revolted by the rebels'choices, Tally eventually bonds with one of their leaders and begins to question the validity of institutionalized mutilation--especially as it becomes clear that the government's surgeons may be doing more than cosmetic nipping and tucking. Although the narrative's brisk pace is more successful in scenes of hover-boarding action than in convincingly developing Tally's key relationships, teens will sink their teeth into the provocative questions about invasive technology, image-obsessed society, and the ethical quandaries of a mole-turned-ally. These elements, along with the obvious connections to reality programs such as Miami Slice, will surely cause this ingenious series debut to cement Westerfeld's reputation for high-concept YA fiction that has wide appeal. Suggest M. T. Anderson's Feed (2002)and Westerfeld's own So Yesterday (2004)to readers antsy for the next installment.
(2005, March 15). Booklist [Review of the book Uglies]. Retrieved from
http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=c10961bcca5f05fde919419b6f86897a
With a beginning and ending that pack hefty punches, this introduction to a dystopic future promises an exciting series. Tally is almost 16 and breathlessly eager: On her birthday, like everyone else, she'll undergo extensive surgery to become a Pretty. She's only known life as an Ugly (everyone's considered hideous before surgery), whereas after she "turns," she'll have the huge eyes, perfect skin, and new bone structure that biology and evolution have determined to be objectively beautiful. New Pretties party all day long. But when friend Shay escapes to join a possibly mythical band of outsiders avoiding surgery, Tally follows-not from choice but because the secret police force her. Tally inflicts betrayal after betrayal, which dominates the theme for the midsection; by the end, the nature of this dystopia is front and center and Tally-trying to set things right-takes a stunning leap of faith. Some heavy-handedness, but the awesome ending thrills with potential. (Science fiction. YA)
(2005, Feb 15). Kirkus Review [Review of the book Uglies]. Retrieved from
http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=c10961bcca5f05fde919419b6f86897a
In this launch title of a planned trilogy, teenager Tally Youngblood is living an unexamined life in a world unlike ours, hundreds of years from now. She's impatiently awaiting her birthday because in her town, Uglyville, everybody gets the same gift at age 16: cosmetic surgery which transforms them into gorgeous creatures. They also move into "party towers" in New Pretty Town. Tally's best friend has already made the transition and, motivated by her desire to see him, she sneaks into town. Her near-capture leads to a new best friend, Shay, who has the same birthday. On the eve of their operations, Shay reveals a plan to escape to a renegade settlement called "the Smoke." When Shay disappears, government agents blackmail Tally into leading them to the rebels. Once in the Smoke, Tally has a crisis of conscience when she learns the surgery is more sinister than she imagined. Teens will appreciate the gadgetry-including bungee jackets and hoverboards that work by magnetic levitation. But plausibility problems creep in, such as Tally leading a breakout of Smokeys from a high-tech compound while wearing handcuffs. As in his So Yesterday, Westerfeld introduces thought-provoking issues, but readers may lose track of the plot while sorting the many messages about how the "Rusties" nearly destroyed the planet. They may also feel cheated when, after 400-plus pages, the ending leaves loose ends to be tied up in the next installment, Pretties. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
(2005, March 21). Publishers Weekly [Review of the book Uglies]. Retrieved from
http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=c10961bcca5f05fde919419b6f86897a
Gr 6 Up-Tally Youngblood lives in a futuristic society that acculturates its citizens to believe that they are ugly until age 16 when they'll undergo an operation that will change them into pleasure-seeking "pretties." Anticipating this happy transformation, Tally meets Shay, another female ugly, who shares her enjoyment of hoverboarding and risky pranks. But Shay also disdains the false values and programmed conformity of the society and urges Tally to defect with her to the Smoke, a distant settlement of simple-living conscientious objectors. Tally declines, yet when Shay is found missing by the authorities, Tally is coerced by the cruel Dr. Cable to find her and her compatriots-or remain forever "ugly." Tally's adventuresome spirit helps her locate Shay and the Smoke. It also attracts the eye of David, the aptly named youthful rebel leader to whose attentions Tally warms. However, she knows she is living a lie, for she is a spy who wears an eye-activated locator pendant that threatens to blow the rebels' cover. Ethical concerns will provide a good source of discussion as honesty, justice, and free will are all oppressed in this well-conceived dystopia. Characterization, which flirts so openly with the importance of teen self-concept, is strong, and although lengthy, the novel is highly readable with a convincing plot that incorporates futuristic technologies and a disturbing commentary on our current public policies. Fortunately, the cliff-hanger ending promises a sequel.-Susan W. Hunter, Riverside Middle School, Springfield, VT Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
(2005, March 1). School Library Journal [Review of the book Uglies]. Retrieved from
http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=c10961bcca5f05fde919419b6f86897a
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