Elvis and the Underdogs

May 1, 2014

Gr 3-6-It has been months since Benji Barnsworth watched the Secret Service drive away with Elvis, the 200-pound Newfoundland therapy dog originally intended for the president, but who was delivered to Benji by mistake. Ripley, his new therapy dog, is fine, but he doesn't talk. Benji misses Elvis, so he and friends Taisy and Alexander keep tabs on Elvis online. Benji notices that Elvis looks a bit strange during one presidential speech, and he realizes that Elvis is sending a coded message with his tail-he needs help. The group of friends must get to Washington, DC, and rescue Elvis. It's easy enough to suspend disbelief and embrace a talking dog. The idea of two erroneously-delivered therapy dogs is a stretch, but when one recipient is the President of the United States, credulity strains. Benji's winning voice and his madcap antics charmed in the first installment, but the sequel doesn't hold up as well and feels overly long. While it is unlikely that many middle-grade readers will be familiar with White House protocol and security measures, some may have a hard time buying the ease with which Benji and his pals not only get to DC, but gain access to the White House. The narrator is a sweet and earnest character, if a bit self-aware. The adults are little more than clueless props, while the action is over-the-top slapstick.-Brenda Kahn, Tenakill Middle School, Closter, NJ

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2013
Ten-year-old Benji Wendell Barns-worth is constantly in and out of the hospital with a smattering of illnesses and allergies; he faints often, and he recently had an epileptic seizure. Getting a therapy dog—a gigantic, talking, Doritos-eating Newfoundland named Parker Elvis Pembroke IV—spares Benji the humiliation of wearing a safety helmet at all times. Elvis, as Benji dubs him, is confident and very well-spoken, and his influence helps Benji assert himself around his well-meaning but suffocating mother, as well as seek adventure with his new friends: Taisy, the pressured daughter of a celebrity athlete, and Alexander, a new student with a “total recall brain.” This children’s book debut from Lee, a writer and producer on Disney’s Shake It Up sitcom (and clearly a dog lover), is suffused with optimism, despite Benji’s many health problems. Benji comes across as down-to-earth and sympathetic—without being pitiable—and the underlying theme about strength found in companionship gives the story just enough gravity. Light contributes b&w digital spot cartoons, not all seen by PW. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Sally Woffard-Girand, Union Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown.