The Storm: Dogs of the Drowned City

The Storm: Dogs of the Drowned City by Dayna Lorentz
Scholastic Press - June 1, 2011
224 pages

When a hurricane forces his family to evacuate without him, Shep the German Shepherd is confused. Where is his boy? Will he ever return? And what will Shep do in the meantime now that the extra bowls of food -- not to mention all those tasty things he found in the big cold box -- are gone?
Then another dog shows up at Shep's window and convinces him to escape. There's food outside, and a whole empty city to explore. Shep just wants to go home...but the adventure of a lifetime is just beginning.

{Spoiler level: Minor)

This book goes ridiculously fast. You have to pay attention to what happens, because things happen in a matter of sentences and names are thrown at you at the speed of light. If you aren't 110% focused on what's happening in The Storm, something will happen and you'll be like:

Did he die? Who's that? And then you'll flip back a few pages.

Oh yeah. That's who we're talking about.

Not that all of that's a good thing. It's much better than the alternative, which would be slugging along at such a horrible place that you skip fifty pages and you still understand everything that's going on. I think I actually did that in The Tommyknockers at one point, but then decided that I should read the whole thing in order to give it a proper review.

I did have a bone to pick with The Storm. Shep used to be a fighting dog, but you don't get a lot of information about the bloodshed. It could have been a great opportunity to show people the horrors of dog fighting, but alas, it wasn't. All you hear is that there were puppies and old dogs, an old dog taught Shep about the Great Wolf and the Black Dog, Shep always killed his opponents quickly and with mercy because he didn't want them to suffer, and the dead dogs were never properly buried. He treats the cage and fighting as horrible, but readers are never shown those horrors. I suppose it's because this could be classified as middle grade.

Apart from that, it's a quick read with some well-developed characters (and others that you don't really get to know because there are so many, but that's like Warriors) and a strong plot.

Grade: B+