A Dog's Journey

Starred review from March 26, 2012
In this utterly charming and often heartbreaking follow-up to A Dog’s Purpose, Buddy, a faithful dog who, through numerous reincarnations has valiantly protected the lives of his humans, narrates the story of his relationship with Clarity June. Clarity’s mother is negligent, so Buddy has his work cut out for him, and Clarity, while still a toddler, has already been saved from drowning, poisoning, and horse trampling when she and her mother, Gloria, leave the safety of Clarity’s paternal grandmother’s home for a series of increasingly bad situations. After Buddy’s life ends, the pup is reborn as Molly and reunited with Clarity, now a troubled teenager called CJ with multiple insecurities and problems. CJ’s self-destructive tendencies and carelessness send Molly to the great beyond, but the canine comes back, first as Max and then as Toby, each time affecting CJ’s life in positive ways. Ultimately, the good dog, after years of service, learns the reward given to devoted angels masquerading as pets. Robert Frost said, “no tears in the writer, no tears in the reader”; if this is true, then Cameron must have wept buckets. Readers will devour this wonderful story and cry from beginning to end. Sweet and heartfelt, Cameron likely has another bestseller on his hands.

April 15, 2012
The second half of a marathon voyage through the rhythms of life from a dog's-eye view. Cameron's 2010 bestseller A Dog's Purpose recounted the spiritual journey of a dog as he struggled to find meaning in his relationships with people. This sequel picks up with Buddy, the good dog who looked after his master Ethan his whole life. Shortly before dying, Buddy has a visceral reaction to toddler Clarity June, causing the pooch to rethink his position: "I loved CJ as much and in the same way as I had loved Ethan," the dog, now reborn as "Molly," says. "So had I been wrong that my purpose was to love Ethan?" The new poodle shepherds troubled CJ through the perils of adolescence, from a tango with bulimia to a romantic triangle. After Molly disappears, we meet Max, a hyperactive Chihuahua who falls into CJ's lap. By now, CJ is an aspiring actress living in New York City who sidelines as (what else?) a dog walker. The novel is an undemanding but harmless retread up to this point, at which it leaps headlong into syrupy storytelling that makes The Bridge to Terabithia look like Trainspotting by comparison. CJ suffers a debilitating illness that puts her into a coma, Max meets his first cat and an old friend reenters CJ's life at a critical juncture. No one remains unscathed in the book's circuitous second half. This maudlin sequel is overkill.

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2012

Another dog book? You bet. And since Cameron's 2010 A Dog's Purpose was on the best sellers lists for nearly five months in hardcover and remains on the best sellers lists in paperback, you can also bet that this meditation on how dogs take care of us will be big.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2012
Introduced in Cameron's A Dog's Purpose (2010), good dog Buddy finds a new role in life after his beloved master, Ethan, dies when he rescues Ethan's toddler granddaughter, Clarity, from a near-fatal accident. When Clarity's self-absorbed and dog-hating mother whisks her away, Buddy wonders if he'll ever see her again. Buddy doesn't, but Molly does. As all good dogs must, Buddy dies, but his spirit and mission live on in Molly, a dog the now-teenage Clarity adopts at a time when she battles her mother's psychological abuse and a violent ex-boyfriend's threats. In the years ahead, a self-destructive and emotionally fragile Clarity will manage to find her own purpose, but only with the help of Max, a spitfire chihuahua, and a gentle beagle named Toby, who carry on Buddy's protective devotion. Once again endearing himself to animal lovers, Cameron explores the concept of canine karma with acute sensitivity and exhibits cunning insight into life from a dog's perspective.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)