Dogs of the Deadlands: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WEEK JUNIOR BOOK AWARDS

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Growing up in the shadow of the ruined nuclear power plant, pups Misha and Bratan need to learn how to live wild—and fast. Creatures with sharp teeth, claws and yellow eyes lurk in the overgrown woods. And they’re watching the brothers…

DOGS OF THE DEADLANDS | Kirkus Reviews

Chernobyl, 1986. Natasha’s world is coming to an end. Forced to evacuate her home in the middle of the night, she must leave her puppy behind and has no idea if she’ll ever return. Some time later, growing up in the shadow of the ruined nuclear power plant, pups Misha and Bratan have to learn how to live in the wild—and fast. Creatures with sharp teeth, claws, and yellow eyes lurk in the overgrown woods. And they’re watching the brothers’ every move… Every so often a story comes along that makes you its prey, takes you in its jaws, shakes you — and you have no option but to go limp and submit. Such is the case with the new young adult novel from the Carnegie-winning author Anthony McGowan, who has written a classic best described as a post-nuclear The Hundred and One Dalmatians with a little of The Incredible Journey thrown in. Yet it has a howl all of its own. Zoya is one such puppy, a Samoyed left behind by a traumatised little girl, taken away to the city and promised a swift return which never comes. It also shows us Misha, born in the wild to a dog and raised among savagery and Darwinian 'survival of the fittest' principles. The world is coming to an end. Dragged from her bed in the middle of the night and forced to leave her beloved puppy behind, Natasha has no idea if she’ll ever return home.Dogs of the Deadlands will not be for everyone, but for those who are willing to go on this journey, it will be well worth the reading.

Dogs of the Deadlands: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WEEK JUNIOR BOOK

For more posts like this, here’s the link: https://thechrysalisbrewproject.com/category/bookish-posts/. Disclaimer and Disclosure It’s great to see these kids “so enthusiastic about committing high treason.” (historical note) (Historical fiction. 10-12) Chernobyl, 1986. The world is coming to an end. Dragged from her bed in the middle of the night, Natasha is forced to leave her beloved puppy behind and has no idea if she’ll ever return home. Weaknesses: I'm not much for narratives told from a dog's perspective, and I somehow missed where Misha was the son of Zoya. After the whole regurgitated worm thing, I found it a little hard to concentrate. As with any great animal story, there is a degree of anthropomorphism, as it’s hard not to see the dogs’ personalities through human characteristics but the wild behaviour of the animals is not sugar-coated though and comes across as very realistically animal in nature.Quite the unusual read, this – an unexpected drama set in a unique situation. The plot is split between Natasha, a young girl who has only just been given a brilliant white puppy when Chernobyl goes belly-up and her home is evacuated, and dog forced to stay behind, and Mother, a feral mistress of the hunt and the two survivors of her latest litter. To be fair, Natasha only crops up every few chapters as a reminder she's there, and we see the hole in her heart the abandonment of Pripyat and her pup created. The core thing is watching Mother, Misha and the semi-lame Bratan grow together as a family unit. And while they have each other they don't have it all their own way – lynx, bear and wolves are definite threats, and Bratan's hind legs hampering his speed don't help either.

Dogs of the Deadlands: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WEEK JUNIOR BOOK Dogs of the Deadlands: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WEEK JUNIOR BOOK

This gripping and unusual tale imagines how life might have evolved for the domestic animals forced to become wild in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster and the repercussions for their owners. The Oxford Literary Festival has in my mind become the leading literary festival of the year. The organisation, the roster of speakers, the ambience and the sheer quality of it all is superb. May it now go from strength to strength each year stretching its ambition more and more. I believe it will.

This is NOT a fluffy dog story full of cuteness. This is brutal, dark and dog-eat-dog... so to speak. This visceral story of heartbreak and survival...has the memorable feel of a classic.’ Guardian, Best children’s and YA books of 2022 He would grumble about the decline and fall of the old Soviet Union. "Once the people were in charge. Now only oligarchs. Billionaires. Thieves," he would mutter." - This example. so much wrong in these two sentences. While I don't want to go down the road explaining the history in this review... and while some people in occupied countries might have thought (or still think), this is absolutely disgusting message to send to the kids. If the story is meant and aimed for adults, or young adults and the author feels the need to include politics (which is not bad thing per se), some knowledge of the era, country and its history would be beneficial. their intelligence – this makes a huge difference for a speaker. In the Oxford audience I encountered many experts in the field my book covered and even one of the ambassadors I’d quoted This is recommended for 10+ and I would definitely agree with this, as it doesn’t shy away from the hardships and reality of the dogs survival. Many poor creatures meet their ends in the name of dinner! The fight for supremacy in the wilds is often portrayed as realistically brutal too.

Dogs of the Deadlands: Shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Dogs of the Deadlands: Shortlisted for the Week Junior Book

Is dolphin-assisted therapy so beneficial to patients that it’s worth keeping a wild dolphin captive? Dogs of the deadlands'' by Anthony mcgowan is a sophisticated children's/YA book . Sophisticated because it weaves into the format of narrative some very fascinating evolutionary trajectories , especially of wolves and dogs. Separated from her puppy Zoya on her birthday due to the chernobyl nuclear disaster , Natasha , who later assumes the name of Nataliya, carries the imprint of this severing. But Zoya, having by chance mated with a wolf, gives birth to two wolf dogs, Misha and Bratan . And it is their adventures that constitute the novel. I loved the whole atmosphere of the Oxford Literary Festival. From breakfast, alongside some of the attendees, who were talking books with each other a mile a minute, to the public event at The Sheldonian where everyone was lively and engaged – I felt I had arrived in a kind of literary heaven. I'm hoping McGowan has a comic or light-hearted book lined up for us next, I'm sure he needs it as much as we do! Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals.

Dogs are a man’s best friend. However, what happens when there are no men available for a dog to befriend? Do they survive and if they do then how? Conversely, what happens to a person who is compelled to lose their dog, their best friend? The second challenge this book faces is in its weaving of its characters’ stories. To be realistic, the author tells several different dog stories (since dogs don’t live as long as humans), and then weaves in one brief human story while putting the primary human mostly on hiatus. Natasha plays a much smaller role than I expected at the beginning, and by the time her adult story is really told, the main action and arcs of the dogs are mostly finished, so it feels like an afterthought, thrown in for denouement. While the end is ultimately satisfying, there are multiple ends throughout the book, which keeps you guessing exactly how the author wants this to wrap up. This is a strength for some, but could be considered disjointed or incomplete for others. The author mentions War and Peace as an inspiration, and having read that tome this year, I can say that that’s not for everyone: it’s a very difficult task to weave so many arcs together and still satisfy your (young?) readers. The dogs’ arcs are compelling, but the humans’ feel rushed, despite the difference in lifespan. Twelve-year-old Lily has lived with her emotionally distant oncologist stepfather and a succession of nannies since her mother died in a car accident two years ago. Nannies leave because of the difficulty of caring for Adam, Lily’s severely autistic 4-year-old half brother. The newest, Suzanne, seems promising, but Lily is tired of feeling like a planet orbiting the sun Adam. When she meets blind Zoe, who will attend the same private middle school as Lily in the fall, Lily’s happy to have a friend. However, Zoe’s take on the plight of the captive dolphin, Nori, used in Adam’s therapy opens Lily’s eyes. She knows she must use her influence over her stepfather, who is consulting on Nori’s treatment for cancer (caused by an oil spill), to free the animal. Lily’s got several fine lines to walk, as she works to hold onto her new friend, convince her stepfather of the rightness of releasing Nori, and do what’s best for Adam. In her newest exploration of animal-human relationships, Rorby’s lonely, mature heroine faces tough but realistic situations. Siblings of children on the spectrum will identify with Lily. If the tale flirts with sentimentality and some of the characters are strident in their views, the whole never feels maudlin or didactic. Overall, Dogs of the Deadlands is a magical tale of love, loss, loyalty, hope, survival, separation, and reconciliation. It not only teaches us a lot about the animal kingdom but also gives us deep insights into humanity. I recommend this book to anyone and everyone. People who love dogs and tales of survival would especially enjoy this book. Book Details