Yalu and the Puppy Room

Yalu is a little golden retriever puppy living at a puppy kennel.  When someone wants to adopt a puppy, they go play in the puppy room.  Yalu gets her first chance, but that family wants a boy dog, and it seems like after that, no one wants a golden, or at least they don't want Yalu.  Then a couple comes in and asks to see all kinds of dogs.  So, how can Yalu stand out and make this her family?

Full Disclosure:  I received a free review copy of this book from the publisher, Mystic Publishers, through a Publisher's Weekly email giveaway.  This is not way has effected my opinion of the book.

Let's start with an overall rating and work from there.  This book is a 2.5 out of 5-not great, but not horrible, even though this book started as a self-publish.  The pictures are a little too distorted and much too few.  A book like this needs pictures on every page, and that is not the case here.  Also, Yalu is at some type of puppy breeder, and this book would have been more topical had Yalu been in a shelter.  It almost brings to mind a puppy mill.  

The strength of this book is the dog.  She's cute, she has a struggle and she overcomes that and finds a good family, and her discovery of the new house is adorable.  There's nothing to really make this book stand out, even for an easy reader which are all too often over simplified and quaint.  

I would say that most libraries would pass on this book, as would cash strapped schools, but this book is made for e-books.  The Amazon Kindle price is $2.99, and at that price, I would definitely recommend it to parents with and iPad or Kindle Fire.  Children will like Yalu since she is adorable.  Also, this author is going in the right direction, so while this isn't a hit, it is a good start.

Happy Reading!

Oh, BTW, I did finish The Diviners last night, but I want to soak it all up before I write the review.  This is a book with so much going on, and so many questions left for the next installment.  I'll be back tomorrow with a full review.