Hero
True bravery, friendship in suspenseful tale for dog lovers.
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Hero is a dog-lover's story by Sarah Lean, the author of A Hundred Horses. Here Lean explores the human-animal bond through the relationship between 11-year-old Leo and his neighbor's dog, Jack Pepper, with lessons about honesty, true friendship, loyalty, and what it means to be a real hero. There's nothing of concern for bigger kids and tweens, but younger readers may be frightened by the random appearance of a sinkhole in the middle of town that collapses buildings. No one's injured, but Jack Pepper is lost, feared trapped in the bottom of the sinkhole and possibly dead. Younger kids may need extra reassurance that they're not in danger of falling into a sinkhole as they go about their daily lives.
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What's the Story?
Leo spends most of his time imagining he's a gladiator of ancient Rome, until he meets a dog called Jack Pepper. Jack has a knack for making friends, and soon the whole town knows and loves him but none more than Leo. Jack even pulls Leo out of a pond, which Leo fell in while doing something he knew was wrong. Somehow the wrong version of the story gets out, and the whole town thinks it was the boy who saved the dog instead. Leo feels terrible about the lie but doesn't know how to set it straight. One day, a huge sinkhole opens in the middle of town, right where Jack Pepper was waiting for Leo. Can Leo, who's only 11, help find and rescue Jack before it's too late?
Is It Any Good?
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.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about friendship between people and animals. Why do we love stories about them so much? What can they teach us?
Do you have a pet, or have you ever made friends with an animal even if it wasn't your own? Did you learn anything from each other, and if so what did you learn?
Jack likes to imagine he's a gladiator of ancient Rome. If you could time-travel, what era would you visit? What interests you about it?
Book Details
- Author: Sarah Lean
- Genre: Coming of Age
- Topics: Brothers and Sisters, Cats, Dogs, and Mice, Friendship
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
- Publication date: February 3, 2015
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 8 - 12
- Number of pages: 208
- Available on: Nook, Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: July 12, 2017
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