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Book Cover |
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Excerpt |
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Something pressed against
Tim's face. He could feel softness and warmth.
Tim opened his eyes and
found his vision blocked by a white bundle. As if the landscape has been
covered in a thick snowfall.
He moved his head backwards.
The whiteness was Grk, who had come to lie on the floor beside Tim's
head.
"Hello," whispered Tim.
Grk lifted his head and
stared at Tim.
For a minute or two, they
looked at one another.
Tim said, "It's hopeless,
isn't it?"
Grk just looked at him.
A tear eased out of Tim's
eye and trickled slowly down his cheek.
"I don't want to die,"
whispered Tim.
Grk said nothing.
Tim stared into Grk's big
brown eyes. On the curve of Grk's pupil, he could see the reflection of
his own face. But he could see something else too. Something that he
couldn't really understand or even put into words. Something deep inside
Grk's eye.
If you had asked Tim to
describe what he had seen, he wouldn't have been able to tell you. But
whatever is was, it made him feel stronger.
He whispered, "We're not
going to give up, are we?"
Grk opened his mouth,
showing his tiny white pointed teeth, and barked twice. The noise echoed
around the room.
Tim stared at him.
Very slowly, a smile spread
across Tim's face. "Oh, yes," he whispered. "That it! You're a genius,
Grk. You are a genius!" |
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Synopsis |
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Timothy Malt, his parents, Max and Natascha Raffifi,
and Grk are on vacation in New York City. They intend to visit all the
tourist sites like the Empire State Building, ride the Staten Island
Ferry, shop the stores of Fifth Avenue, and see the Golden Dachshund in
the new exhibit at the National Museum.
But when the Golden Dachshund
statue mysteriously disappears, Max and Tim claim to know who has stolen
the golden wiener dog statue. See, Grk had found a hot dog on the ground
outside the museum. Doctor Wiener has hot dog carts all over the city,
none of them having a license to sell on the streets of New York City.
Tim cannot stand sitting the hotel room and sneak off to retrieve the
missing statue with Grk. While in Central Park, he tries to tell an
officer of his suspicions, but the officer doesn't believe him. Watching
the offered tell the Doctor Wiener cart to remove it's business from
that area, Tim rents a bicycle and follows them with Grk running beside
him. The head across the Brooklyn Bridge. After wiping out and losing
the truck, they find themselves outside of Doctor Wiener's factory.
Across the street is a theater and Tim meets an actress names Smith. Tim
tells her about what he suspects about the theft and Smith informs him
that he can get Tim and Grk in Doctor Wiener's hot dog factory.
When Tim
and Grk enter the factory, and Smith has left, they get captured. Frank
Bock is a hire gun and when Tim and Grk escape and make him look like a
fool, he vows to get the boy, and his little dog, too.
Grk and the Hot Dog
Trail
by Joshua Doder is the third story in the Grk Series.
This book is intended for young readers ages 9 to 12.
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Review |
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Grk and the Hot Dog
Trail
is another wonderful book about Tim and his adventurous dog, Grk. Yes, I
realize that Grk is a strange name for a dog, as there are no vowels,
but that doesn't really matter.
Joshua Doder has created two wonderful
characters in this boy and his dog. It just makes you want to growl when
you say his name. Actually, I feel sorry for Tim's parents. Tim and Grk
are always disappearing on adventures leaving Tim's parents wondering
about the safety of their son. Boy, if my daughter kept going on
adventures with life-threatening criminals, I would put my foot down.
That aside, I really enjoyed
Grk and the Hot Dog
Trail
and found the bad guys to not be as "bad' in this book, although Frank
Bock is a nasty, little fellow. I miss having Max and Natascha as main
characters, like there were in the first book in this series, A Dog
Called Grk. They are generally only at the beginning and the end of
the story now. Grk was originally their dog, so I would love to see them
more involved in the stories.
Overall,
Grk and the Hot Dog
Trail
is a fun, fast-paced, adventure-filled, heart-pounding story staring a
boy and his faithful dog trying to right the wrongs committed by
criminals. Young readers, especially boys, will love the books about Tim
and Grk. I look forward to more adventures of these two in
Grk:
Operation Tortoise. Go get 'em, Grk. Good boy.
I rated this book an 8½ out of 10. |
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