This book reminds me a lot of Summer of 1000 Pies format wise. A female couple taking care of a semi-orphaned girl on a farm. You can find my review of Summer of 1000 Pies here.
A Home for Goddesses and Dogs
Summary
Following the death of her mother in the New Year thirteen-year-old Lydialife is uprooted as she moves from the home she and her mother shared to a farm that her Aunt Brat along with her wife Eileen share along with their dog Sookie, and their ancient live in landlord Elloroy.
All are welcoming to her just a little quirky, Lydia has trouble feeling like she belongs and this is highlighted when her aunts rescue a big yellow dog just days after Lydia’s arrival.
Wasn’t one rescue enough?
But her aunts seems set on the idea and they are soon home with this dog. Even though Lydia defines herself as very much not a dog person, plus this one is trouble.
Just like Lydia he’s not the only one with issues coming into this new situation. This new dog which they have trouble naming is mistrustful, escapes from on his leash and barks at things unseen. Leaving his new owners only to guess about his past.
But the new dog isn’t the only one with secrets, Lydia isn’t trying to be difficult to the new people who let her into their home but there are things she just can’t tell. Like why the box of paper stuff under her bed is so important and why the hole in the wall behind a poster in her room keeps getting bigger.
She also may have the clues to the dog’s past but at what cost?
Review
The heart of the story is Lydia and the dog, eventually named Guffer learning to feel at home, their stories mirror each other and them finding ways to fit into their quirky family and Lydia realizing how much she needs her dog is the sweetest part of the story.
I also like the goddesses that come up in the book as a paper project that Lydia and her mother do, some of them are very creative and I would have loved to seen them visually represented throughout the book.
My only complaint is there is a character with an intellectual disability who is kinda treated like a special prophet like figure. I’d really like to see an own voices review’s take on the character because honestly I don’t like the portrayal, but that might just be me getting defensive about how people with disabilities are portrayed.