Book Review: Ellie’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Novel

Ellie’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Novel by W. Bruce Cameron

Published by Tom Doherty Associates in 2015.

This story chronicles Ellie’s life from puppy to old age. Ellie is adopted by Jakob, a widower who trains her as a service dog. Ellie loves her purpose doing “work” with Jakob. He tells her to “find” and “show” him various people who hide from her. She is very good at finding all the people. Jakob challenges her more by having her find people without a scent.

Eventually, after she goes through training, she goes to the police station where she works as a search and rescue dog with Jakob. After Jakob is injured helping rescuing a small girl, she gets a new handler named Maya. Maya is different than Jakob. Ellie has to help Maya get in shape to be a dog handler.

This story does a great job of using the dog’s limited perspective to allow readers to make their own connections. Cameron also does a good job of describing the handler’s emotions and personalities. These distinct personalities shape their interactions with the dog. The dog even compares the two handlers and how they would work. This is an adorable book that all kids will love!

Tagged: animal books, realistic fiction, review