Parker has a very special dog. Her name is Alaska.
"I've been missing her for four months now, so during the daytime it feels almost normal for her not to be there. I'm used to the dog-shaped hole at home. I know I don't need to be careful with the door any more, and all the blankets covered in white hairs went into the washing machine ages ago. But at night I dream about her."
When I read this I was sure Alaska had died. Luckily this is not the case but I really don't want to say too much more about what has happened except to say Alaska now has a new owner called Sven. Just why Sven has Alaska; how Sven needs Alaska; what has happened to Parker's father; and how Parker can get close to her beloved dog once again are questions I cannot answer - you need to read this book. Actually I am going to shout that YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK.
The review from Book Trust also includes an interview with Anna Woltz about her book.
Every few weeks I visit Beachside Bookshop in Sydney and I pick up some advance reader copies of books for Primary school aged children. I never really know what I am going to get. It's a bit like the scene in Forest Gump when he says “My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.” I would change this to "A book can be like a box of chocolates. You never know what's inside until you open it up."
Talking to Alaska was one of the first books I picked up to read from my last set. I loved the cover - I'm sure you do too. Then I discovered this was a translated book and I adore discovering those. As a bonus I read Talking to Alaska won the most prestigious literary prize for Dutch children's books - the Zilveren Griffel which goes part of the way to explaining how it came to be translated into English. Then I opened up the book and met Parker and I fell in love. I also discovered Anna Woltz uses alternating voices in her story which is a style of writing I really enjoy.
The hardcover edition of this book is now available and the paperback will be released early in May. The Publisher has the delightful name - Rock the Boat.
Here are the Dutch, Hungarian and German covers:
If you look at my labels for this post you will see this book is about epilepsy, violence, fear, and of course dogs. We talk about genres for books. I think there needs to be a new genre - the heartfelt dog story. Here are some beautiful dog stories that I suggest are companion reads to go with Talking to Alaska:
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