Their journey takes them into shelters and parks, group homes and foster care, alongside her mother, who descends into deep depression and involuntary commitment. Thus begins Sugar's descent into homelessness, with the emotionally damaged dog, Shush, at her side. Amid this tumult, a neighborhood girl shoves a puppy into Sugar's arms and urges her to take him or else the girl's father, who abuses the dog, will dump him at a shelter. Sugar's mother has fallen behind on the mortgage payments, and her father has gambled away what little equity they had. Bennett can protect her from what is to come. Sugar expresses in verse what she can't otherwise: that parents can sometimes be selfish and unworthy of a child's trust.

Bennett, who encourages her to write poetry, and write it honestly.

'You just pray hard to know what to do.' The one pillar of stability is her teacher, Mr. 'It's not fair, but sometimes a kid has to act older than their age,' she says. Sugar knows who the real grown-up is in this relationship. Leeland.' And her mother, while loving, is weak and broken, delusional that her former husband will return to rescue her. Sugar's deadbeat gambler father is such a nonpresence in her life that she calls him 'Mr. Born in the back seat of a Chevrolet, Sugar becomes a fairly typical sixth grader, growing up poor but stable with her single mother, Reba, in a small house that Sugar's grandfather helped them buy before his death. The best of them is 'Almost Home,' which skillfully tells the tale of precocious and street-smart Sugar Mae Cole.

While they are all retellings of the well-worn 'boy and his dog' tale, young readers will find fresh drama and pathos to engage them in each of these stories. All pursue similar premises: children on their own against hostile surroundings, with no one to rely on for trust, friendship and - in the most extreme moments - physical safety, other than their pets. Herlong and 'The Dogs of Winter,' by Bobbie Pyron. Three new books for children explore this timehonored theme: 'Almost Home,' by Joan Bauer 'Buddy,' by M. Sometimes a child can trust no one but the loyal dog at his side. (Middle grade ages 10 to 14) AS any reader of middle-grade novels knows, it's a cruel, viciously uncertain world out there, and all too often the adults in a child's life are more a source of harm than help. (Middle grade ages 10 and up) THE DOGS OF WINTER By Bobbie Pyron. (Middle grade ages 10 and up) BUDDY By M. New York Times Review How pets can help us through the most difficult times.

Mh herlong books