Rescuing Crash, The Good Dog: A Novel By Sue Harrison
Review by Deborah K. Frontiera
ISBN 979-8-89656-015-9, Modern History Press, 2025, Ret. $18.95 paperback
In Rescuing Crash, The Good Dog, eleven-year-old Britta had life smack her in the face. Her mother has left the family to chase her own dreams. Dad is trying his best, but it’s not good enough. He’s your normal guy, floundering without his wife. In the opening scenes, it appears Britta is the “adult” in the home. Written in first person from Britta’s point of view, she sums up chapter one this way: “If you met my dad, in a day or two, you might not remember him. If you met my mom, you’d want to be with her all the time.”
The action and emotion in this middle-grade novel hit from the first page. Breakfast is chaotic; Britta’s making a grocery list; Dad is late for work. Plus, it’s Britta’s birthday. Her father hasn’t forgotten that, but he delivers in a way Britta did not expect—or want. The characters and their feelings aren’t just “shown,” they are blasted at the reader in a very real way.
This action continues through Britta’s school day—oh, the humiliation of taking biscotti as her treat to her classmates because her dad ate the good cookies she was planning to take. Again, the author introduces us to Britta’s classmates’ personalities through their dialogue and actions, no dull narrative here. And we hear that teacher’s voice, which Britta says is “sharp enough to peel potatoes.” This reader can remember at least one teacher with a voice like that!
Of course, like many upset youngsters, Britta makes the mistake of running home from school. The consequence of that is even worse—she must spend the school’s Friday races on the sidelines, when she should have been winning. But her teacher also announces to the class that Britta father will be getting her a dog (what she didn’t want for her birthday), which rallies her classmates around her, the necessary spark of hope needed for our heroine to move forward the tiniest bit in her life.
When Britta and her father go to the animal shelter to find a dog, she discovers she and her dad have not thought through what they want at all. Britta is at first enchanted by some new puppies, but she will have to wait a few weeks until they are ready for adoption. Then she spots Crash, an Australian shepherd with blue eyes. That’s it. She’s hooked.
Then the hilarity starts. Neither she nor her dad are prepared for Chash’s enthusiasm for life, his ability to jump very high, and his boredom when alone at home during the day. He nearly destroys their living room. Left outside the next day, he jumps a very high fence to dig up the neighbor’s garden—a neighbor who hates dogs. Have they made a mistake in adopting Crash? Will Britta have to give him up after falling in love with him? After finding a new bond with her dad and beginning to see that life can go on in a new way without her mom?
So many parts of life have crashed down on her, and then Crash gets lost. What will she do now? Has she rescued Crash? Or has Crash rescued Britta and her dad?
As a reader, I took my time soaking up the first half of Rescuing Crash, The Good Dog I wanted to savor the author’s use of language. I also laughed at Crash’s disasters (he was well named), and I cried with Britta at the thought of losing him. Then, I couldn’t put the book down, and didn’t until I had finished the second half in one evening, going to bed rather late.
If this old grandma can become immersed in the story and characters, remembering her own childhood pet, so will middle-grade kids identify with Britta. Parents, grandparents, and all who work with middle-grade kids shouldn’t leave themselves out! They might learn something about relating to kids today.
Rescuing Crash, The Good Dog: A Novel By Sue Harrison
ISBN 979-8-89656-015-9, Modern History Press, 2025, Ret. $18.95 paperback
