Hilarious & charming, even if you don't particularly like dogs. Especially for ages 7-9, but would be a fun read-aloud for the whole family, too. ( )

A fun little story - or series of stories. Chuck is a (female) whippet, on the far end of the spectrum of her naturally nervous breed; Danielle is her owner, the daughter of a single mother. The stories follow Chuck's encounters with various terrible whippet-eating monsters, ranging from motorcycles and Monstercats (the ones that don't run away) to balloons and a cardboard tunnel. In a completely non-anthropomorphized and non-cutesy way, Chuck navigates all these dangers and has some surprising successes along the way - sometimes by overcoming her fear, sometimes by giving in to it. Danielle manages her dog very nicely, helping put the best, most useful face on her actions. And Chuck solves a few problems for her, very nicely. Happy ending, even - not a cliche-y one, but a realistic one. A book I'll read again, though probably not soon.

On rereading - I'd forgotten most of it, though some of the climaxes were vaguely familiar. Still fun, but not a lot of depth here. ( )

mixed results, just OK.