A dog who sees the world through his own unique lens battles evil forces to protect his newfound family-and inadvertently succeeds.In a "Dear Diary" format, Sam the pug relates his adventures over the course of 20 eventful days, during which he runs away from "naked-monkey-thing" owner Mike, ends up at the shelter, and gets adopted by the Peterson family, who have a 12-year-old son named Justin. Meanwhile, Sam is suspicious of Justin's new friend, Phoebe, but perceives actual villains Drago and Grisha as his friends, even though they're trying to steal the Peterson parents' lab secrets. Many of Sam's fears will be humorous to readers, such as the "deadly assassination robot" (the vacuum) and the Ghost Wolf (Sam's own reflection in a sliding glass door). No matter how misguided and oblivious he is, Sam's heart is in the right place, however, and he manages to protect his family. He's also able to smell people's emotions, knows when Justin is lonely, and tries to be a good companion. Readers will find plenty of humor-and a few gross-out moments, as when the Petersons' cat makes "little snack treats" in his "magic sand oven." The grayscale cartoon illustrations throughout are especially funny and often spotlight the difference between Sam's worldview and reality. Most main characters read white; the bad guys are coded as Eastern Europeans who speak a language other than English.Silly, swift, and a surefire success. (Adventure. 8-12)

Gr 5 Up —Poor pug Sam has had a rough life. Gary and Elaine, two work-at-home scientists, adopt him for their son Justin after Sam ran away from a neglectful owner. Alas, things get off to a rocky start. Sam thinks the living room rug is for doing his business, a chair leg is for his chewing pleasure, and the trash can is a treasure chest of treats. He's confused by his new owners' frustration. He's only trying to please and protect them from evil wizards (Justin's new friend) and dangerous neighbors (the lady with the funny hat)! Why do they always "smell" so angry? Happily, after a series of funny mishaps and misfortunes, the story ends on a satisfying note. The narration from Sam's point of view is clever and conveys hilarious situations, such as Sam seeing his reflection in a sliding glass door and barking loudly to scare away the "enemy creature." But more sweetly, the voice of Sam calls attention to the well-documented link between humans and their four-legged friends. Sam loves the smell of trash and the "cookies" in the cat litter, but he also smells emotions like sadness, anger, and love. Written in kid-friendly language, readers will fall in love with Sam and his quirky ways. Lowery's black-and-white illustrations are reminiscent of comic art and accompany the story nicely. VERDICT Animal lovers who are edging into longer chapter books will appreciate the story and Sam's funny view of humans, or "naked-monkey-things." An excellent addition to the shelves of school and public libraries.—Anne Jung-Mathews