By: Prim Pawn
Format: Available in Paperback, ePub, and MOBI
Genre: Speculative, Science Fiction
Avery the Dogless Orphan
and the Interdimensional Stray
All orphan Avery wants is a dog of her own…
…but her strict stand-in-mom Aunt Laurel absolutely forbids it with ridiculous excuse (dogs drool) after ridiculous excuse (dogs shed). Everything changes the summer before sixth grade. Avery and Aunt Laurel travel to Beaver Island, Lake Michigan—a place Avery’s only heard about in her aunt’s old nursery rhyme. The poem warns of mysterious Scorned Sliders who travel from a different dimension to wreak havoc on the island’s dogs.
But that’s just a silly story. Right?
When Avery finds a scruffy terrier hurt and abandoned at the island’s lighthouse, she jumps to his rescue. But the animal patrol officer he’s fleeing from has a chilling resemblance to the interdimensional villain from Aunt Laurel’s poem.
As Avery uncovers secrets about her past and a sinister plot against dogkind, she must decide where her loyalties lie. Should she break Aunt Laurel’s rules and save the canine species? Or is she doomed to a life as a dogless orphan?
Meet Prim Pawn,
the author of Avery the Dogless Orphan and the Interdimensional Stray
Susan Phelan –
What an adventure. Kids will love this, especially if they are fond of animals. I enjoyed her learning curve as well – going from feeling she has no family to knowing those around her who love her are her family, even if it doesn’t look like a “normal” family. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
gypsyscholar60 –
Actual rating: 4.5 rounded up to 5
Prim Pawn’s Middle Grade novel is an inventive and enjoyable adventure that many middle graders will find intriguing and exciting, especially if they love dogs as much as Avery. Avery’s character is one that target readers will relate to as she tries to forge her own identity while chafing under what she considers unfair and unreasonable adult rules – it is a rite of passage for tweens. Avery’s differentness is symbolic of the physical and emotional rollercoaster changes adolescents all face. Framing Avery’s feelings of not belonging and her rebellious pushing of boundaries within the context of a speculative alternate dimension allows the readers to contemplate their own inner conflicts from a safe distance.
Avery’s journey to self-acceptance takes her from a self-absorbed, self-centered kid with a huge chip on her shoulder – and an obsession with getting her own dog – to a budding adolescent who is aware of others’ struggles and a capacity to see them as allies instead of obstacles to her desires. I love that she becomes a force for community building and that she learns that being different is perfectly okay – and that “normal” is a matter of perspective.
My only quibble with this otherwise delightful book is that some readers may find Avery’s contrariness (which takes up more than half the book) irritating enough to not stick with the story long enough to get the full payout. She spends so much time complaining about others’ lack of focus on HER goals that it makes her a bit unlikable. Of course, this is also what makes her transformation once the full situation is revealed so rewarding. Another endearing quality to the story is how richly drawn the setting and supporting characters are drawn and developed: from Aunt Laurel to Benji, the villains, the dogs, the cottage, and the island, I could visualize it all vividly. This is a story sure to delight its target readers, and I look forward to more from Prim Pawn.
Thank you to Prim Pawn and Chicken Scratch Books for the opportunity to read this advanced review copy for free, and I leave this review voluntarily.
Tessa –
This was a fun read with a vivid setting and characters, sure to be a hit with dog lovers. There was a cool reveal at the end, which I totally didn’t see coming, but made perfect sense.
And as a parent, I appreciated that there was no questionable language or themes.
dasanders.is –
This was an interesting story idea for a middle grade fantasy/sci-fi. There’s the appeal of dogs, an island with a spooky history, and being able to slide through time and space. I really wanted to love this story, but I can only give it a 3 out of 5 stars.
I think the first part of the book was a little slow and it was sometimes hard to like Avery because she is angry a lot about not being allowed to have a dog, angry about her aunt’s strict rules, and angry that as an orphan she doesn’t have a “normal” family. Her idea that having dog fixes her life drives Avery to lie, be insensitive to her aunt and friends, and to break the rules. It’s kind of all about her which might stop some readers early on.
Fortunately, Avery begins to develop more heart as she works to save a stray terrier from scary powerful Scorned Slider from another dimension. She learns her parents may not have disappeared the way she had been told; that she’s a Slider and is developing some strange abilities; and, finally, that she must be true to herself to save the stray terrier and all the dogs on Beaver Island.
The book ends with Avery realizing she has all she ever needed with the love and friendship of those who care for her. I did like the way it resolved her parents’ disappearance and that there can be redemption for even a wicked character in the end.
I was disappointed that a subplot involving the Sugar Shark was not resolved with more detail. It just seemed hurried after such a big buildup.
I think kids who love dogs and fantasy/sci-fi would enjoy Avery the Dogless Orphan and the Interdimensional Stray but it fell a little short for me.
Heidi DeStefano –
“Avery the Dogless Orphan and the Interdimensional Stray” reminded me a little of “A Wrinkle in Time” with it’s slides into other dimensions and it’s supernatural characters. If you like stories with gaps between space and time and some manipulation of matter sprinkled in, you will probably enjoy this book. Toward the end of the story, I warmed up to Avery’s personality as she grew emotionally. Those of us who are dogless, but would love a dog, will relate to Avery’s fervent desire to have one of her own!
Talitha J Hart –
A fun fast-paced story perfect for fantasy lovers. I would recommend this for kids who are struggling to get into reading, especially those who love dogs, or who feel that they don’t fit in.