My Pack: Burney the Hollywood Puppy

By: Walter Todd and Loki Monroe
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Publication Date: October 2013
ISBN: 978-1478705765
Reviewed by: Ellen Feld
Review Date: June 18, 2014

A cute little shih tzu puppy with attitude to burn, a Hollywood setting where just about anything can happen, and an owner who adores her dog, are the setting for My Pack: Burney the Hollywood Puppy.

Burney begins his life in Minnesota, with his littermates and caring breeder. When it is time for the little puppy to find his forever home, he is moved to a pet store in Beverly Hills, CA. It's there that Stacey, a young, aspiring actress, spots the pup, hiding in the back of his cage. Their eyes meet, and Stacey knows that this is 'the one.' She quickly buys the shih tzu, brings him home to her apartment, and gets to know her new best friend.

Burney is lonely - he misses his siblings who have gone off to new homes. Soon, however, with Stacey's patience and love, Burney comes to think of her as his new pack. It isn't long before he will do anything for his beloved Stacey, and that includes chasing off some robbers!

Life with Burney is never dull, and so there's a lot of action packed into this 78-page chapter book. The puppy and his 'pack mate' go to the beach, explore Griffith Park, meet some interesting animals at an audition, and even get on a real studio set. Burney's playful curiosity gets the best of him when he meets a cat - whoops, that's not a cat and it smells! While investigating one day, Burney actually helps solve a crime. What a busy life this young pup has had!

My Pack: Burney the Hollywood Puppy was an enjoyable book with plenty of action to keep young readers interested. Burney was a sweet dog, and it was obvious that the authors had plenty of experience with shih tzus and the lovable personalities of these dogs was perfectly portrayed. Stacey, his owner, seemed at times a bit harried, much like a young woman trying to make it in Hollywood would be. Some of the terminology was a bit 'adult' [chick magnet, Kona coffee] and might require young readers to look words up (never a bad thing). The story did suffer somewhat from frequent typos and grammatical errors, and a good editor would go a long way to improving the reading. Overall, however, the story was fun and readers will undoubtedly fall in love with Burney.

Quill says: A sweet story, that with a little work, could be a top-notch, not-to-be-missed story.

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For more information on My Pack: Burney the Hollywood Puppy, please visit the publisher's website at: www.outskirtspress.com/mypack