My 11 year old daughter could not get into this book, I thought it was quite sweet. ( )

Sam Hudson, a young teenage girl, is bored and at slight odds with her mom. A dog finds its way into her backyard and she proceeds to hide it from her mom. It is a mystery as to where the dog came from. After finding it difficult to continue hiding the dog, Sam finds it a good home.
Sam did come clean with her mom, so there is that moral to the story.
I found it a cute story. ( )

A really great children's read! Fun and easy and a really great story.

A somewhat simple but enjoyable read - eleven year-old Sam finds a giant black dog and immediately knows there's something special about him. However, there's no way her strict mother would ever let her keep him - so Sam undertakes the monstrous task of taking care of Horatio on her own while keeping him a secret.

The best way to describe this would be cute, I think. The story is sweet, but Sam is, unfortunately, just not a very interesting character - relatable, perhaps, but there's nothing really special about her. The best part about this book for me was undoubtedly Horatio. As a confirmed dog lover and proud owner of a giant dog myself, I felt all the passages about Horatio's calming and beyond endearing personality very viscerally. I'm currently away at college and now have a desperate longing to cuddle with my own baby! Anyway, I did really like Stella's character - I found it very much more interesting and developed than either Sam's or her mom's.

Overall, a sweet book. I'm sure I would have lapped it up in grade school, but I found it a bit lacking at times. Extra half star for the lovely illustrations! ( )

What a sweet book! My 4th graders are going to love it! I really enjoyed the way the author told the book from the perspective of Sam, Stella and the dog. Unfortunately, many young people will be able to relate to Sam's overscheduled life. I am sure they will enjoy reading that other kids feel the same way that do. ( )