I adored Girl with a White Dog and thought it was absolutely beautiful. I cannot wait for it to be released so I can buy several copies and give to everyone I know.
Girl with a white dog does several things well for me. Firstly it discusses Nazism and the holocaust in a sensitive and thought provoking way. All too often I get angry with books which deal with issues such as Nazism as a gimmick to sell their book and make it more interesting rather than because they have a story to tell or something to say about the issues around it. This book is perfect in the way it handles it and that makes the history teacher in me very very pleased.
Next I loved the characterisation in this book. All the voices are so authentic and I loved how these kids sounded like the ones I teach. There's actually one quote about a history teacher that one of my students could have happily said themselves because it is spot on. Also I loved how the characters were diverse without being in the book for show. You have characters who are disabled and they are just there as they should be. Nothing makes me rage more than the token disabled / gay / non white characters thrown in and pointed out regularly for being a special little minority snowflake to show how 'with-it' an author is. This book treats people from a more diverse background just as they are and should be like everyone else in the book.
I loved that this book made contrasts between the past and current events making them relevant and current to young minds and encouraging children to think for themselves and see parallels between the two. It's so important for children growing up in a world fun of propagandised newspapers and scaremongering headlines from extreme political parties they they learn that they don't just have to accept what is in front of them and can fight to make the world a better place.
All in all I adored this book and cannot wait for more people to read and adore it too.
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