Patrick Jennings grew up in Indiana with lots of siblings and a book in his hand. After he grew up, he moved to Bisbee, in southern Arizona, where he taught preschool and began to write professionally. Eventually he left the desert for the coast of Washington State, where he lives with his daughter. A full-time author, Patrick teaches creative writing to middle-schoolers and is a much-requested speaker at schools around the country. The author lives in Port Townsend, WA.
"It's summer vacation, and in this third in the light-reading
Guinea Dog series, Rufus' and Murph's families are taking their
traditional trip to the lake, unusual guinea pigs included.
Rufus is excited to share the experience with Fido, his guinea
'dog' from Petopia, the store that disappeared as fast as it popped
up. Unfortunately, his mom has also invited the families of Rufus'
nemesis, Dmitri, and a girl, Lurena. At least Lurena will be
bringing Fido's daughter, the guinea 'squirrel.' Let the games
begin! While swimming, Rufus nearly drowns Fido, who is only
resuscitated after another camper, Pablo, offers advice. He joins
their circle but, oddly, won't swim. Murph saves Rufus from his
dad's grilled mushrooms ('Seriously?') with a well-timed hot dog.
Lurena turns out to be a loyal ally. Bully Dmitri's behavior
becomes so bad that even even-tempered Murph notices. Rufus
narrates it all with his by-now-familiar, entertaining mix of
preteen self-conscious self-involvement and dawning maturity. Murph
and Dmitri are a bit one-dimensional, but in them, readers will
easily recognize kids they love and love to hate, respectively.
Pablo offers a nice counterpoint to Rufus' hesitancy when he boldly
confronts his self-imposed limits when pushed. Why? Because Petopia
has popped up again, and Pablo is now the proud owner of a guinea
'otter, ' meaning Pablo must swim.
Youngsters will eagerly jump in for another fast, fun read."
--Kirkus Reviews--Journal
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