Andrew Wolfanger's Book Report on "A Dog's Way Home"

Name: Andrew Wolfanger

Title of Book: A Dog’s Way Home

Author: W. Bruce Cameron

What was the problem in the book, and how was it solved? Be specific.

  The main problem in this story is that Lucas can’t have a dog in his apartment and Bella

is apparently a pit bull which is banned in Denver where he lives, so his dog, Bella, gets sent

to a place hundreds of miles away until Lucas can find a new place to live. However, Bella

doesn’t know this is temporary, so she runs away and faces a long, dangerous journey to get

back home.  Through her journey, she meets various characters, helpful and bad, and eventually

finds her way home.

What was the author's purpose or purposes in writing the book? Explain how you know.

I think the author’s purpose is to entertain the reader. I know this because it’s a fictional

story of a suspenseful, entertaining journey that kept me hooked the whole way through.

What did the title have to do with the book?  

The title,  A Dog’s Way Home, refers to when Lucas saved Bella’s life so Bella felt that her

home would always be with Lucas, so when Lucas sent her away, she struggles to get back

to Lucas.

Tell in your own words how the setting of the story made it more interesting. Be Specific

It takes place in various settings.  The majority of her adventure takes place in the forests

and other people’s homes.  In the forest, she struggles to get food until she meets a mountain

lion that helps her for a while. Also, during the winter it’s very cold, windy, and hard to walk

through with all the snow.  With all the temporary owners and people she meets, it creates

conflict such as breaking away from people she’s learned to love and escaping danger.

Bella’s constant encounters with danger and the various settings are what make this story

so interesting.

If one of the characters visited our classroom, what question would you ask them? (Make sure

the question relates to the plot/problem/actions of the story.) *Give the name of the character

with the question!!*

I’d ask Bella what type of dog she really is and the types of dogs her parents were, because

it doesn’t say exactly in the book.  This is relevant to the plot because an animal patrol

officer threatens to take Bella to the pound or put her down because he thinks she’s a pit

bull which are banned in Denver because they can be violent.  This is one of the main reasons

Lucas has to send Bella away.

Pretend you are a librarian recommending the book to someone. Write a paragraph telling what

you would say.

This is a great, suspensful, entertaining book about a dog finding her way back to her

owner.  If you like suspenseful, emotional, adventurous books about dogs, this might just

be the book for you.  It also has a happy ending eventually. This is a story you would enjoy

if you’ve ever been attached to an animal.  It is sure to keep you hooked till the end.

If they made a movie of this book, which scene would be most important to include. Explain

the scene with details and why it's important.  

I think if they made a movie about this book, they would have to include the scene where

Bella came back to Lucas.  When Bella went back to the VA where she once worked as

an emotional support dog, the mean animal patrol officer that threatened to send her to

the pound years ago, and the reason Bella had to leave in the first place, followed her

and wanted to take her to the pound to be put down.  All the former soldiers told him that

if he was going to take Bella, he would have to get through them. Eventually, the cops

came and the sheriff said to let Bella go to Lucas’s new home and he fired the animal

patrol officer because all the other officers complained about him sending too many dogs

to the pound that he thought were pitbulls.