' I usually don't like sad books like this but this one was really good and cute but really sad :( It made me cry! ' - Jayden, ' That is a sad book so don.t read ir ' - Hera, Overall Performance: Narration Rating: Story Rating:.Give this to your budding vegetarians and veterinarians, or an excellent read aloud for those looking for animal fiction.' This book is contemplative and episodic, and won't be for every reader, but should appeal strongly to children who have a strong righteous streak, animal lovers, or serious minded readers grades 4-6. Instead, they weave in and out of each other's lives, signaling with odor, stance, and body - as animals do. The dogs do not talk to each other or other animals. Although Squirrel 'narrates,' this is no talking animal fantasy. There are some hard events - Squirrel sees and loses much in her life, and many people are thoughtless or cruel - but Squirrel's matter of fact narration keeps the trauma from being overwhelming to a child reader. 'This book is the story of Squirrel, a stray dog who lives her life almost entirely on the fringes of the human world. At once heartrending and hopeful, Ann Martin’s exquisite story of a dog’s life is told with her trademark grace and insight.

And when it seems she will roam the woods and country roads alone forever, Squirrel makes two friends who, in very different ways, define her fate.

Her life story, in her own words, is marked by loss, but also by an inspiring instinct to survive. Born a stray, she must make her own way in the world, facing busy highways, changing seasons, and humans both gentle and brutal. And most certainly, not all dogs have the same experiences.” Squirrel is not like most dogs.

A Dog's Life by Ann M. Martin