Dingo Book Review
By Rob Ficiur
I read the e-book Dingo to a unique group of students. While they are avid readers, they have little interest in the Science Fiction or Fantasy Genre. In fact over the years they have told me how the Fantasy books are a waste of paper (sorry Star Wars etc).
As I began reading the book, I got the response that I had anticipated. As the Dingo was introduced, the students' practical minds tried to understand how such a device would work. At the same time they complained because the book was not interesting. However, I persisted.
Before we reached the half way point in the book, these students were engaged by the novel. They felt for Zach. (All you have to do is read the first chapter and everyone would feel for Zach as he tries to deal with his dysfunctional home life). Zach and his friends wanted to stop the bad guys, (sorry this is a book review can't tell you all about the villains in the book) but they faced so many challenges that seemed impossible to overcome. Every step of the way when the cause looked hopeless, the four heroes found a solution.
The highest compliment of the book came after I finished reading it. "When are you going to read the next Dingo book?" "What other things could a dingo be used for?" Now instead of doubting the fictional science behind the dingo, we (myself included) ponder the possible story lines that could be written using this new found technology. When Anne Bradshaw engaged the students (and me) in a fantasy book, (a genre these students had disliked) the author has accomplished what she was after.
From my not so young perspective, this first Dingo novel (I assume there will be others) opens the door to so many plot possibilities. The reading took my students and I to places we had never been, and we felt the water splashing upon us...(can't tell you where we were...read the book).
Thank you to Anne Bradshaw for writing a book that I did not have to edit as I read. In more than two decades of teaching school and reading to students, most teen and youth novels have words and phrases that I must skip / skim or modify because of the language or content. I was pleased to read Dingo without being in edit mode.
Guess what book and movie producers, a book can be clean and entertaining all at the same time!
Rob Ficiur
