Happy Veteran’s Day! // Soldier Dogs #1 // A Book Review

It’s Veteran’s Day! I love the special holiday set aside to honor those still living who have served our country! It’s also a time set aside to remember those who gave it all, or who served and have since passed on. My Great-grandfather, Floyd Wesley Jennings, was a WWII Veteran who served as a tank lookout in Europe. He passed before I was born, but I know one day, I will see him again, and maybe I’ll even get to thank him for his service!

In honor of Veteran’s day, I am reviewing a special book. I love military stories. I love stories about dogs🐕. And I love stories about WWII. So it’s no surprise that I picked up this fun series. Today, I’m sharing my thoughts on the first book in an ongoing series, spotlighting one of our sometimes unsung heroes…Soldier Dogs.

Soldier Dogs #1: Air Raid Search and Rescue
By Marcus Sutter
2018
3.5 Stars

About the Book: When Matt’s older brother enlisted in the army, he left Matt his German Shepherd, Chief, a retired fire dog and the best pet EVER. So Matt isn’t happy when Chief starts paying attention to his foster sister Rachel instead of him.

But when Nazi planes begin bombing the city, Matt finds himself in an impossible situation. Can he be a hero to his sister when it matters most? And when they get caught outside during the air raid, will Chief be there to save the day?

My Review: Okay, there were a lot of things that I enjoyed about this story, but it’s only fair to tell the things that gave it such a low rating. So, let’s dive in.
I really thought it was interesting, learning more about the city of Canterbury, England. 🌁From buildings to fun facts and the history of the blitz in England, it was very educational. I was also excited to learn about the Kindertransport, rescuing Jewish children in Germany and placing them with families in free Europe. 🚆

The main character had a terrible attitude towards his parents and his adopted sister, Rachel. It frankly became quite annoying. He does get better towards the end, but they never make it clear that the boy was wrong and learned his lesson. It also insinuated that he was right to be upset with everyone.

Another thing that, to me, didn’t ring true was how they depicted the Luftwaffe Airman in the story. ✈ While his actions sound like something a Gestapo or SS man would do, it just didn’t seem realistic for a German bombardier to act so violently. Now, I understand that everyone is different, and there were indeed some terrible people in every branch of the German military, but as a general rule, your average German soldier wasn’t going to haul off and try to kill a child who posed no serious threat to them. There were ways they could have made this more realistic, especially if the kids had been older or had some kind of weapon, or if the setting was a little different. I don’t know, it just seemed a bit too violent, especially for a children’s book.

The dog was amazing! The story spotlighted how dogs served our country, searching and rescuing those in need and in taking down the enemy. And German Shepherds are my favorite, so…😍 I look forward to reading more about these fantastic dogs in the rest of the series.
 
I’ll try to review the rest of the books in this series in the near future, but I actually bumped this review ahead for Veteran’s day, so it may be a little while before those show up.

Don’t forget to thank a Veteran today!
Ryana Lynn
Jude 22
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