A Dog’s Way Home
W. Bruce Cameron
2018, 332 pages
Fiction
Lucas finds a puppy living with a mother cat and her kittens under an abandoned building. Lucas has been feeding the stray cats that are living there. It is love at first sight for both the puppy and Lucas. He names her Bella. Bella wants nothing more than to be with Lucas. Bella becomes part of the family, and helps calm Lucas’s mother, who has seizures. Lucas sneaks her into the VA hospital where he works. The veterans all love Bella and a few respond only to her. But Lucas and his mom are not allowed to have a dog in their apartment. And though Bella is a mixed breed, a disgruntled animal control officer declares that she is a pit bull.
Lucas and Bella live in Denver, where there is a pit bull ban. Eventually, because she has been labeled a pit bull, Bella is sent to a foster home in Gunnison, Colo., 400 miles from Denver. Bella is distraught. She thinks she has done something wrong. And she is determined to “Go Home,” as Lucas has taught her.
She escapes from the foster home and begins her long and treacherous way back over the mountains to Denver and Lucas. She befriends a mountain lion kitten, fights coyotes and struggles to find enough to eat. Several people try to help Bella and adopt her, and she helps them and comforts them.
Bella has a big heart and is a marvelous character. This is a story of love and determination, a dog’s amazing journey through the wilderness to find her person. It has also been made into a movie.
Will she survive the dangerous 400-mile trip back to Denver? Bella does not hesitate. Her mission is to “Go Home” and find Lucas.
Robbin BaileyConcord Public Library
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