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New Feature: Rott-N Literature

© Wendy Smith

You will forgive me if this article seems a bit short. I think last month's epic more than makes up for the length of this one.

Basically, I thought I would take this time to introduce something that I have been toying with for a while now, book reviews. If Oprah can do it, so can I. I thought that from now on, with each monthly article I would include a brief, dog related book review. Instead of training books and the like, I plan on focusing on lighter reading, such as novels or anecdotal material.

Fair warning though, because of a drought of adult dog related novels, I'll have to venture into the world of children's literature upon occasion. Also, the books I'll mention could deal with any breed of dog. I'm afraid there simply aren't that many fictional Rottweilers out there, so I won't be able to limit myself to my chosen breed.

To kick off this new feature, I thought I would dedicate this article to my first review: a children's novel that DOES have a Rottweiler in a major role. That book has the interesting title of:

Upchuck and the Rotten Willy by Bill Wallace

Bill Wallace is a prolific writer of children's literature and teen adventure novels. He is an avid animal lover, which shows itself in the fact that many of his books deal with animal characters. Upchuck and the Rotten Willy is considered a young reader's book and would probably be geared for children in the third or fourth grade and above.

The plot actually deals with a young cat called Upchuck, named for a mishap involving his teenage owner's ex-boyfriend. For obvious reason, he prefers simply to be called Chuck. In the process of the story, Chuck suffers through some major life changes. At the beginning of the book, he has already lost a friend to a car on a speeding highway. During the progress of the story, his best friend moves away, and his teenage owner leaves for college.

Chuck finds a kindred spirit in the shape of a pony-sized creature called "the Rotten Willy," otherwise known as a Rottweiler. At first, Chuck, who normally taunts dogs, wants nothing to do with his new neighbor. Dogs and cats certainly weren't meant to be friends, after all. But then a life-threatening situation literally drops him into Willy's yard. Willy, who has also suffered a loss of his own, eventually wins the cat over. Together they are able to help each other move through their grief.