Stay!: Keeper’s Story – Lois Lowry, illustrated by True Kelley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, (9780544813151), 2017.
Format: Paperback
Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 5
Genre: Animal
What did you like about the book? This is an utterly charming story! A stray dog gives birth to four puppies in an alley behind a restaurant – Mom dog is very polite and well-mannered, enjoying the exquisite French cuisine. Two of the puppies are very rambunctious, but the other two, the star of the story and his sister, Wispy, are good friends until… Until one day while Mom is out getting romantically involved, three of the puppies are spotted by staff from the restaurant, fussed over and taken home. The last puppy was frightened so he hid under a box. Mom returns but she only stays for a night and puppy is on his own. He is befriended and adopted by a homeless man who names him Lucky. This is Lucky’s second identity; when this man dies Lucky begins his next two lives. The story is told completely from Keeper’s (his last identity) viewpoint. There is nothing scary here and the sadness is handled in a very non-threatening way. The illustrations by True Kelley make this story into even more of a winner!
Anything you didn’t like about it? No.
To whom would you recommend this book? This one is for animal lovers, of course, particularly dogs but it is such a well-written, lovable story that anyone should enjoy it.
Who should buy this book? All public and elementary school libraries
Where would you shelve it? Juvenile fiction
Should we (librarians) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? Yes!
Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City: Katrina Yurenka, Moderator, Youth Services Book Review
Date of review: 1/28/2017
Youth Services Book Review 
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