Secret of the Mountain Dog

Gr 4–7—Twelve-year-old Jax and her family live in the last house on a mountain road in a small town tucked into New York's Catskill Mountains. Higher up the slope sits an abandoned structure of unknown origins that local legend claims is haunted and has hidden rooms. One day, Jax finds a beautiful dog, without tags, sitting near her driveway. She brings him home to shelter him until his owners are found. Later that night, while looking out her window, Jax's gaze is drawn to a light coming from the mountaintop, and she realizes it's from the abandoned building. Jax, an experienced hiker, and the dog she's named Mo-Mo, head up the mountain to investigate. They find a Buddhist monk and his student, who have traveled from Tibet to reopen the monastery. So begins a mystery where the purpose of the building and its contents are revealed. The result is an "East meets West" adventure with the concepts of Buddhism entwined into prophesy, symbolism, a lost artifact, art thieves, and a protective dog. Jax is an intelligent, self-reliant girl, so the frequent anxieties of her overprotective mother come across as unnecessary and do not move the plot forward. A conversation toward the end of book concerning the impact of the Chinese takeover of Tibet feels awkward and hastily included. Still, middle grade readers with a penchant for mysteries and multicultural experiences will enjoy this.—Sharon Lawler, Texas Bluebonnet Award Committee, San Antonio, TX