“Wheeeeee!”

From Meika Hashimoto, Gina Loveless, and Genevieve Kote’s Animal Rescue Friends.

When Maddie finds a stray dog at the park, she offers to keep him company until his owner comes back, but as the minutes turn to hours, both the girl and the dog get hungry. Maddie takes the dog—which she has begun calling Boyd—home for some food, but her apartment’s strict no dog policy means that she’ll have to take him to a nearby animal shelter until his owner can be found. Unable to abandon Boyd, Maddie volunteers at the shelter where she soon meets fellow volunteer Bell. While the girls get along okay, Bell’s desire to do everything herself leads to unnecessary stress and a scary situation with some ferret kits. Maddie is thrilled to see Mikey, a shy classmate attend an adoption event with his family, but when Noah and Jimmy try to pull a dangerous prank at the event, Maddie is very proud to watch Mikey confront the bullies to protect the animals. Later, when Noah finds an injured cat, he takes it to the shelter for help where Bell questions his every move until Maddie realizes that the boy has changed. While each day at the shelter is full of crazy fun, Maddie quickly realizes that it’s become a part of her.

A relatively quick read that still manages to pack the pages with impressive artwork and an engaging story. Animal lovers will enjoy the development of the various characters, and all young readers will appreciate the chance to see what goes on behind the scenes of countless animal shelters. An often funny and definitely heartwarming adventure, Animal Rescue Friends is a must-read.