Jeremiah Lucky Finds Puppy Love

 While preparing for his part in a class play and dealing with an irritating girl, Jeremiah learns his best friend and neighbor will be going away to camp.

Summer vacation will be lonely and boring.

Just before school is out some puppies are brought to an assembly to encourage kids to adopt animals  from the shelter. Jeremiah falls in love with one of them.

He finally convinces his mother to let him adopt that dog.

But when they go to the shelter they find out the puppy has already been adopted by someone else. The boy doesn't want any other dog.

And letters from his friend at camp only serve to remind him how lonely his own life is.

But the interesting plot leads to things Jeremiah wouldn't have guessed and, while the book has a satisfying ending, it gives hints about a future book.

This book will be welcomed by young readers who have met Jeremiah Lucky in an earlier chapter book where the boy encountered his guardian angel. And Angus, that unusual angel, does make some brief appearances in this book.

But Jeremiah Lucky Finds Puppy Love can stand alone and will be enjoyed by kids who haven't read the first book in the series. And they'll probably be eagerly awaiting the next book about Jeremiah Lucky.

Eric Hammond has provided a black and white illustration for each chapter that will tempt kids to use their crayons and color it in.

Jeremiah Lucky and the Guardian Angel

I appreciate the author's dedication in Jeremiah Lucky and the Guardian Angel  to all children being raised by a single parent because I was once a child like that. When I was a kid my father died and my mother had to work. Fortunately my grandfather was able to care for me after school every day. But I can identify with Jeremiah, the main character in this book who is only in third grade, but sometimes comes home to an empty house. And I'm sure lots of kids today can also identify with him.

This is a realistic portrayal of his everyday life at home and school with the expected problems, but then Angus McDermit appears.

Angus reminds me of a leprechaun, and in the illustrations by Eric Hammond he sort of resembles one, but he's actually the guardian angel who helps Jeremiah each time he has a problem.

And eventually Jeremiah doesn't have to be home alone anymore.

Jane Ellen Freeman has written a book lots of kids will enjoy.