Author:  W. Bruce Cameron

ISBN:  978-0-7653-2626-3

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The author who brought us 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter (which was turned into a hit television series), has unleashed what, I would say, is one of the best books of 2010 with A Dog’s Purpose.  No…I’m not exaggerating even a little bit.  This is one of the most heartwarming, touching, lovely, exciting stories that I’ve ever had the privilege to read.

Told from a dog’s point of view, we begin with a life coming to this earth and waking up by the protective body of Mom.  Life was beyond interesting for this pup, who lived with his siblings that he named Sister, Hungry, and Fast in a culvert down by a creek bed.  He listened and watched when Mom explained how to rip open the black plastic bags that were in the alleyways in order to get food into his stomach, and, he followed her lead when she growled and told him to hide out from the fearful scent of humans.  Larger events have the ability to change everything – and these events are controlled by humans.  The pup certainly learned this lesson when he and his family were picked up and escorted to a woman’s house (a place he called the Yard), where he was given the name Toby, and found a best friend named Coco.  The woman that he called Senora truly loved all her dogs – fed and played with them constantly – even though Toby kept hearing strange things, like she didn’t have a “license” to keep all of them and they would end up being taken away.

Soon, after a strange showdown at the Yard, Toby reawakens and notices that his fur is now the color of gold, and that Mom has mysteriously changed.  He soon finds himself being referred to by another name and spending almost all of his time playing with a young boy named Ethan – who quickly becomes his best friend.  He watches as his boy grows up and finds the first stirrings of love; he also defends his family and his home from an evil boy named Todd who lives in the neighborhood.  A great deal of time is spent at Grandma and Grandpa’s Farm, running free in the huge meadows and trying to figure out why some of the humans around him cry and act strangely every once in a while. 

With the memories of Ethan in the forefront of his brain, he once again wakes up and is surprised to find that he’s a girl named Ellie!  Jakob is his new master who teaches Ellie brand new games like “Find” and “Search.”  Ellie soon overhears that she’s part of a K-9 outfit, and becomes the very best search and rescue dog in the business.  Then, yet another life comes along as, the young pup’s soul is reborn once again.

Whether the purpose of the young pup’s life is to make the Senora laugh in the Yard; protect Ethan from the perils of growing up; rescue people who’ve been taken away from their homes and families; or, simply to make someone learn to care for another creature, doesn’t matter.  What does matter is that Toby truly finds that there are SO many purposes to his life, that having just one would never be enough to fulfill them all.

The writing in this book is so well done it’s impossible to close the page and come back to it later in the day.  I recommend highly that you put aside some reading time and get through all the pages in one sitting.  Laugh at the potty-training and dog/cat relationships; glory in the fact that we all have souls that come back to Earth to continue on a brand new journey each and every time; and, feel the love, friendship, and caring that comes from truly finding out what your purpose in life is supposed to be. 

From the first page where motherhood is discussed, when Toby realizes quickly that, “when the chill air struck my skin it meant she had gone somewhere, but when the warmth returned,” so did she, I was absolutely engrossed with the beautiful words that really hit home for anyone who – whether five years old or fifty – truly needs their mother for warmth and protection. 

I give this book a resounding A+; 10 stars; Bravo! – whatever praises you would like me to award it.  Trust me, not only will you have a wonderful, uplifting afternoon, but you will also look down at your “furry friend” (mine is named Reuben), look into his soft, warm eyes, and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your dog is way more than meets the eye.