Things are hard for Natalie. She lives in a small harbor town and recently her mum has left her dad and gone to live nearby with a local man called Diver Dan. When Natalie befriends a stray dog she finds someone to love and is able to enjoy a different focus in her time of confusion. Natalie's father isn't sure they need a dog but this little guy is very clever and he seems to know how to win over Mr Prater. The dog knows will be able to stay with this new family on the day Mr Prater names him Lars. Natalie and her father go out fishing and Natalie smuggles Lars on board. Her father is upset but Lars is overjoyed to be part of this new adventure. A wild storm begins and Lars is swept into the sea. "This was quite possibly the worst day of Natalie's life."
All is not lost though because Bangor, a harbor porpoise, is swimming nearby. He has been separated from his pod during the same storm. Bangor cannot communicate with Lars, Lars cannot communicate with Bangor but somehow Bangor senses this strange "fur turtle" needs help. With great skill Bangor positions himself under Lars and lifts him onto his back and swims him safely back to sure where he is reunited with Natalie.
"At first he could feel the fur turtle or whatever it was, panicking, scrabbling at the thick surface of Bangor's back. But every time it seemed like he was in danger of falling off, or being pushed by a wave, Bangor patiently and precisely adjusted his balance."
Natalie needs to thank the porpoise for saving Lars and Lars wants to play with is new friend so the next morning all three enjoy a friendly romp in the cool harbor waters. Unfortunately this is not viewed kindly by the town authorities. They hold a series of town meetings to discuss the problem. I loved the scenes where Natalie gains new confidence as she speaks up in defense of the porpoise but there is another problem. The water is getting warmer and soon it will be too warm for the porpoise. The whole town need to unite to solve this problem and in doing so Natalie finds a way to make peace with her mother.
I was visiting a local bookshop recently when a family came in and the younger boy asked about this book - A Dog's Porpoise. There was some confusion about the title but another young boy in the store sorted this out clarifying it was porpoise not purpose! The customer who wanted this book had spied it in a Scholastic Book Club brochure. Scholastic list this book as 8+ but I think it will appeal to a slightly older audience of 9 or 10+ especially since it over 200 pages long and uses alternating voices to tell this story from the three perspectives of girl, dog and porpoise. I did read a review from a Grade 3 teachers who used this book as a class read aloud. Here is the Scholastic trailer. Scholastic also have an audio preview.
This is a funny story and yet it is also poignant. I especially enjoyed the 'voice' of Bangor and his interpretation of human behaviour.
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