We don't usually do book reviews on this blog, but one of our favorite bloggers, Hsin Yi (of Honey The Great Dane), has gone out on a limb and self-published her first book!
The book is 'juvenile fiction', which means that everybody in our house is a bit older than the target market (even little Mittens is now 30 in cat years), but as we are such dog lovers I wanted to buy the book and read it as soon as I could.
(remember when Barbie was a teenager?)
The plot is great and the characters will suck you in to the story straight away. It revolves around the dogs and their adventures, with the humans playing a very peripheral role.
If this book existed when I was a 'tween' I think it would have been a favorite that I would go back to over and over. The cast of characters include a pit bull, a jack russell, a husky, and of course a Great Dane called Honey. There are even cats in the book. Without giving any of the plot away, the dogs really do know how to get out and do things independently, and whilst the dogs with a strong breed-identity do live up to the stereotypes, there are some surprises along the way. I think the overall themes of accepting those who are different to you, looking beneath the surface, courage under fire and team work are really valuable for the 'human pups' who read the book. There is a touch of darkness about the book too, it's not a Disney fairy tale, but kids these days don't believe in those anyway.
You can buy the book very easily on Amazon via your Kindle or other e-reader. You can even read it on your computer if you don't have one of these e-reader gadgets, just follow this link. It's available on other e-reader platforms and will come out as a hard copy too if you want to buy a present for the younger humans in your life. There have been some delays with the hard copy but it is coming!
As a grown-up reader the only regret is that it was over all too soon! I think the best thing about it all is that Hsin Yi is planning on writing more Big Honey Dog mysteries.
If you want to keep up to date with all things 'Big Honey Dog Mysteries' wise then check out the new website - http://www.bighoneydogmysteries.com
