Thoughts before reading:
I've never read this one before...it probably would have traumatized child me. Although in all honesty, I still can't handle anything sad happening to dogs, even the fictional kind. It'll probably still be an unpleasant read for me, haha. Don't judge.
All I can say about this cover is, at least Dawn and Mallory look age appropriate. Little Vanessa is really cute too. She looks a lot like she did in either the movie or the old tv show...I can't remember which without re-watching them, but this is how I always pictured her.
The basics:
This opens with a weird (and vaguely unsettling) rant from Dawn about how she likes animals but doesn't love them, has never wanted a pet, and doesn't understand people who want other people to love their pets as much as they do. (As a huge animal lover, I found this really harsh. Maybe it's just me though?) She then sees Mrs. Mancusi talking to her dogs while she's walking them, and judges her for doing so.
Of course, shortly after, the Mancusis call the BSC for a pet sitter and Dawn gets the job. Obviously she's less than thrilled about it. Still, she at least takes it seriously, learning about each animal and working hard. There is a new iguana, Petie, that she has to admit she really likes.
While out walking the Mancusi dogs with Jessi, Becca, and Charlotte in tow, Dawn notices a green car that seems to be watching them. It goes by multiple times, slowly. Dawn gets nervous that they're after the kids, so her and Jessi hurry them home after talking to them about stranger danger. (A little dark for a BSC book...)
The next day, Dawn is feeding the animals and cleaning out the cages before she walks the dogs, but Cheryl, the Great Dane, can't wait to get out. Dawn tethers her securely in the front yard, then quickly finishes the indoor chores. When she returns to the yard, Cheryl is gone. A frantic search turns up nothing, and no one has seen her around the neighborhood.
It's not long before Shannon goes missing from the park, followed by numerous other dogs. The police get involved, but they laugh at Dawn when she brings them the license plate number of the green car. (She's seen it lurking around again.) They do still agree to run the plate, but it turns out to belong to a rich local man who would have no need to steal, so the police deem it a dead end.
The girls keep investigating on their own, and end up looking around the new pet store in town. They realize it's suspicious and could be somehow involved because it's closed at weird times, like a random Saturday. The green car is even parked nearby. It turns out that the rich man, Karl Tate, owns the store, and the store manager sometimes drives his car. Stacey also swears she saw the same car stop and snatch a dog when she was running by on her way to a Krushers game.
While at the park for one such ballgame, Dawn sees a random woman walking Cheryl. Her and Mary Anne follow the woman around the park, then Dawn calls the police. This time they take her seriously, and an officer quickly comes. The woman explains to him that she bought Cheryl at the new pet store, after specifically requesting a Great Dane.
The pet store owners are arrested, and all the stolen dogs are found and returned. Stoneybrook hails the BSC girls as heroes, and the dog theft scheme is uncovered at last. Apparently the pet store was just a front, and the real business was a scam where unsuspecting customers would call and ask for a certain dog breed, then someone would go out and steal a dog of that breed and sell it for pure profit. Karl Tate was actually having financial trouble and needed a get rich quick scheme to turn things around.
There's a random side plot in here where the Krushers and Bashers combine their older players into an All-Star team, the Krashers, to play against another team. Predictably, this hurts the feelings of all the younger kids who aren't chosen.
Timeline:
It's now spring again.
Misc. thoughts:
*If I had read this as a kid, I would've liked Dawn a lot less. Most people that care deeply about the environment also love animals, so her attitude about them in here seems strange and out of character. She must have learned it from Sharon...
*I've had dogs my whole life, and walked them almost every day. Based on all these outings, I've noticed countless dog owners talking to their dogs while out walking them, and I do it too. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to do so:
1. To comfort, correct, or guide the dog
2. Thinking out loud
3. Dogs enjoy the sound of human voices, especially their owners.
4. To break up the quiet.
5. Companionship
6. A nervous, fearful, or sight impaired dog.
So there, Dawn. You'd think someone who gets judged a lot for her strong convictions wouldn't be so judgmental of others.
*Dawn later discovers this for herself anyway when she ends up talking to the Mancusi dogs while walking them.
*The Mancusi dogs all flip out when they hear the word "walk", and Cheryl also flips out when someone spells out "W-A-L-K." One of my dogs does that too! I guess we spelled it out a few too many times, haha.
*What the hell was Kristy thinking with this All-Star team idea? Seems to go against the inclusive purpose of the Krushers. Claire having tantrums because she wasn't picked was really annoying, but I still felt bad for the little kids.
*If anyone cares, the Krashers do win the game.
*Ghostwritten by Ellen Miles.
Books mentioned:
None
My rating:
2 stars. This was terrible, even by the low standards of these mysteries. It read like the lamest Scooby Doo mystery ever. Just...what a dumb plan. How many dogs can you possibly steal from a relatively small area before people start running into their own stolen pets? Or someone else does? Or someone sees you literally snatching dogs from the streets? How much are people really going to pay for random dogs that aren't puppies, and could be any age? Not to mention the countless serious health problems these dogs could have, or medications they could already be on and need. You can't tell most of these things at a glance. It's like a scheme a little kid would think up.
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