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Parents' Guide to

Hero

By Andrea Beach, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

True bravery, friendship in suspenseful tale for dog lovers.

Hero Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

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Is It Any Good?

Our review:
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Kids say (1 ):

HERO starts out slowly, with frequent repetition of Leo's desire to be, well, a hero, becoming a bit heavy-handed. It also takes a while to create a real sense of place with the confusing use of U.S. vocabulary such as "trash can" in what has to be a small town somewhere in Europe. Things pick up considerably when Jack Pepper appears, and eventually author Sarah Lean displays a more authentic ear for dialogue. These flaws are unlikely to bother kids and tweens, though, especially dog lovers. The final third builds nicely, and the pages will keep turning.

The happy ending shows kids what real friendship is and that growing up takes different kinds of heroism, not only bravery in battle.

Book Details

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