From Jenny Lee, writer on the Disney Channel show Shake It Up!, the number-one-rated kids' show in the country, this feel-good middle-grade novel is about a sickly boy whose life is turned upside down when he gets a therapy dog ...who can talk! Benji Wendell Barnsworth is a small ten-year-old boy with a big personality. Born premature, Benji is sickly, accident-prone, and at the hospital so often he even has his own punch card. So when Benji wakes up one day from a particularly bad spell, his doctors take the radical step of suggesting he get a therapy dog. But when a massive crate arrives at Benji's house, out walks a two-hundred-pound Newfoundland who can talk! And boy, is he bossy. In this hilarious and heartwarming friendship story in the tradition of bestselling authors Gordon Korman and Carl Hiaasen, Elvis brings out the dog lover in the most surprising people and shows Benji that making new friends may not be as scary as he once thought.
Cute story and a lot of fun to read. My only criticism would be the author using the term "therapy" dog and "service" dog to mean the same thing. They have completely different jobs. Elvis is trained to perform tasks and as such is a true service dog. Also Benji uses and epi pen when he has an allergic reaction to walnuts and the kids just go inside and get a glass of water. If you use an epi pen you must always call 911 and go to the hospital. You've just injected someone with some serious medication and they could still continue to have another reaction and need further treatment. But it's a real fun read.
