Andy Behrens

(From March 2010 SLJ)
The classic underdog story goes canine. Twelve-year-old Kevin Pugh leads a comfortable couch-potato existence. While Howie Pugh recalls the glory of playing for the Chicago Bears and tries to motivate his son to follow in his footsteps, Kevin is content to leave athletic glory to his younger soccer-playing sister and to limit his own football exposure to the video-game variety. All of this changes, though, on the day that Kevin, flipping through channels, tunes in to the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge just in time to see a terrier shatter the agility course record. Cromwell, a dog as sluggish as his owner, is mesmerized, and begins racing around the basement in his own attempt at agility coursing. The dog’s fascination with racing does not fade, and Kevin halfheartedly enrolls Cromwell in a training program. When he attempts to mention it to his father, Howie dismisses dog agility as something less than a real sport. Although they are incredibly clumsy throughout their weeks of agility training, boy and dog manage to pull off a miraculous win in their first competition, and are suddenly qualified for the agility championship at Chicago’s United Center. The days following are anticlimactic: even after the win, Howie is unimpressed with Kevin’s and Cromwell’s efforts; they are not able to come anywhere close to the time they achieved during the Invitational; and Kevin is feeling like more of a loser than ever. In the nick of time—just as Kevin is ready to walk out of the United Center without competing to avoid completely humiliating himself—his father shows up, announces that he has been wrong and that Kevin is a winner no matter what, and inspires Kevin to get out there with Cromwell and leave the more experienced dogs in the dust yet again. In spite of the clichéd plot and caricaturish secondary characters, Behrens writes with an engaging style that will appeal to both reluctant and seasoned readers. He has created a likeable protagonist, and students will relate to Kevin’s self-deprecating humor. As for Cromwell, unrealistic though his newfound passion and talent for agility might be, his perseverance gives anyone with an unrealized dream a nice little glimmer of hope.… (més)