Stella - by McCall Hoyle (Hardcover)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>Stella used to be a bomb-sniffing dog, but after a terrible accident, she goes to live on a small family farm to recover from her fear of loud noises.<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><i>An uplifting and poignant story about a former service beagle named Stella who must find the courage to overcome her fears and use her special nose to save a girl's life.</i> <p/> Ever since Stella was a puppy, she was trained to use her powerful beagle nose to sniff out chemicals used in explosives and warn her human handler in order to keep people safe. <p/> But during a routine security inspection, Stella is distracted and misses the scent of an explosive chemical. The sound of the blast is loud and scary. Stella survives but her handler--her best friend in the whole world--is gone. Stella blames herself, certain she's a bad dog. <p/> Scared of loud noises, especially thunder and fireworks, Stella struggles with her anxiety and must be retired from being a service animal. Several families try to foster her, but sometimes Stella is so scared she howls or digs or tears things up with her teeth. She wonders if anyone will want to adopt her. <p/> An expert dog trainer, Esperanza, thinks she can help. It's Stella's last chance to prove she can be a good dog. Stella has every reason to love her new family, especially the young human named Chloe who smells like chocolate chip cookies, newly cut grass, the pages of books, and something else--a strange chemical she can't quite identify. <p/> Chloe has epilepsy, and a chemical inside her body surges just before she has a seizure. Stella's nose makes the connection. But how can she warn Esperanza without her thinking it's just Stella's usual anxiety? How can she convince her new family that she can be a new kind of service dog and hopefully save Chloe's life? <p/> Told from Stella's point of view, readers will experience life through a dog's eyes, ears, and, especially, her nose. Like Babe the pig or Ivan the gorilla, Stella the beagle is an extraordinary story for kids who love animals. An endearing novel of courage, compassion, friendship, and love. <br><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br>2022-2023 master list nominee-- "Texas Bluebonnet Award"<br><br>2022-2023 Nominee-- "Nebraska Golden Sower"<br><br>"Endearing. Tender exploration of human-animal bonding. The book's suspenseful final third focuses on Cloe's interactions with bullies, forcing Stella to relive her own traumatic memories, and to act brave despite them. This is a circular but satisfying means for Stella to resolve her fears. Stella realizes that it is okay to have made mistakes in the past, and that love doesn't require working for approval...In the memorable novel <i>Stella</i>, a dog looks to heal--and find a home."-- "Foreword Reviews"<br><br>"This tender novel from a dog's perspective will help readers understand the importance of animals in their lives. This empathetic read is also full of important themes and lessons for young readers--bravery, how to overcome fears, and that mistakes don't have to define us. A heartfelt dog story that readers young and old will enjoy."-- "School Library Journal"<br><br><p>"A traumatized working dog has one last chance after the death of her handler. <p/> Stella, a bomb-sniffing beagle, has been in three foster homes since the death of her handler, Connie, in an explosion. Now she's got PTSD, and she panics at loud noises, fire, or being left alone. Unable to do anything for her, the humans plan to euthanize Stella until she receives a last-minute reprieve. An old friend of Connie's, a world-class dog trainer, decides to take on Stella's rehabilitation as a favor to her old friend. Through Stella's doggy point of view (usually, though not entirely, limited to what a dog could theoretically comprehend), readers are introduced to dog training with Esperanza and her 11-year-old daughter, Cloe. Esperanza and Cloe, who come from a Spanish-speaking family background, live in the country with other working dogs, a cat, and sheep. Perhaps in this rural environment Stella can finally recover. As her bond with Cloe grows, Stella learns more about what Cloe's sometimes-strange smells mean when she first witnesses Cloe have an epileptic seizure. Stella's narration duly reports all the human conversations she doesn't understand; combined with Stella's somewhat anthropomorphized trauma recovery, Cloe's hopes and fears come through clearly. There's plenty of training process to please lovers of realistic dog books.</p><p>Dog training, trauma recovery, and just enough urgency to keep it moving: a quiet pleasure."</p>-- "Kirkus"<br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br>McCall Hoyle is the award-winning author and an ALA Schneider Family Book Award finalist. McCall is a sixth-grade language arts teacher in one of the largest school systems in Georgia. She has a wide circle of influencers in the middle grades, including teachers and librarians. In addition to teaching middle grade readers, she presents regularly at local schools. McCall has also presented at the National Council of Teachers of English, The American Library Association, and BookCon. She enjoys meeting teachers, librarians, parents, and readers and interacts with them regularly on social media. <br>
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