Gr 4-7 Dessa Dean, 11, was a powerless witness as her diabetic mother froze to death when they were caught in an early-winter storm. Since then, she and her father have gone through the motions of normalcy, with him going out daily to check the traps while she stays behind to do the schoolwork he prepares and to fix their meager dinner. But things are not normal: Dessa Dean frequently relives the horror of her mother's death, and she is unable to make herself venture beyond the steps of their isolated Colorado cabin. The week before Christmas, though, an injured dog comes sniffing around. Dessa Dean's initial attempts to befriend it fail: the jittery animal has apparently been abused and keeps her distance. Repeated efforts pay off, but even when the dog allows Dessa Dean to approach her, she remains on edge around the girl's father. As another storm nears, he is having no success with his hunting forays and has little patience for a dog that will only stay inside when the door is open to the frigid air. Dessa Dean is caught between her growing feelings for the animal and her father's concern over their basic survival. This story of an agoraphobic girl and a claustrophobic dog and how they slowly move one another toward hope could have been maudlin, but Nuzum's pacing and spare, poetic narrative create something quite wonderful. The novel will draw comparisons to Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie (Candlewick, 2000), but it is certainly not a Winn-Dixie wannabe. This is a beautiful story in which friendship and the power of being needed trump despair. Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA

Eleven-year-old Dessa Dean lives with her father, a hunter and trapper, in a remote wilderness area. So traumatized by witnessing her mother's death that she cannot bear to leave the cabin even to use the outhouse, she is plagued by nightmares and tormented by waking "daymares." She lives a lonely life until a lame, half-starved dog comes to the door. In reaching out to befriend the skittish dog, she begins to think beyond her limitations and takes the first step toward healing. In a convincing first-person narrative, Dessa tells of her frustration with her troubles, her hopes when the dog appears, her determination to bring him into her life, and her slow progress toward that end. Though the plot's outcome is predictable, readers who enjoy animal stories will no doubt find plenty to like here. A quiet novel from the author of A Small White Scar (2006).

After her mother's death, Dessa Dean is housebound and lonely, living with her father in the Colorado mountains in the 1930s. One day a stray dog appears on their porch. Dessa's life begins to change for the better, and she is able to confront her grief and finally begin to heal. This heartwarming story will appeal especially to animal lovers.

<p>A motherless girl, a stray dog and a heart-tugging plota"sound familiar? Not so fasta"Nuzum's talent shines through to create an original take on a potentially predictable story line. Eleven-year-old Dessa Dean's mother has died in horrible circumstances: She froze to death in a snowstorm with her daughter by her side. Tormented by nightmares and suffering severe agoraphobia, Dessa lives with her taciturn father in a rustic mountain cabin. Afraid she's going "daft," Dessa tries desperately to resume her everyday life but can't force herself off the cabin's front porch. The arrival of the dog changes everythinga"but not immediately and not without considerable hardship. Nuzum's plot flows smoothly through Dessa's compelling and direct colloquial narrative. Characters are complex, and details of animal behavior ring true. Although the physical setting is clearly drawn, the geographic location and time are unspecified, leaving readers to wonder just a little at Dessa's primitive existence. But they'll root for her nonetheless and be pleased when she finds the strength to overcome her fears. Gritty and engaging. (Fiction. 9-12)</p>

Nuzum's second novel, following A Small White Scar (Joanna Cotler Books/HarperCollins, 2006), is tightly focused on two human characters: eleven-year-old Dessa Dean and her father. Dessa has been traumatized after barely surviving the mountain snowstorm that killed her mother. Now afraid to leave the cabin because of her frostbitten ears-and worse, her terrible memories of nearly freezing to death beside her mother-Dessa spends long, lonely days indoors while her father ekes out a hunting and trapping subsistence. Along comes a large, hungry dog who appreciates Dessa's handouts but fears being trapped in the small cabin. Despite the winter cold, Dessa leaves the door open, so the wary dog can come and go as she pleases. With the cabin so welcoming and the smells of Dessa's Christmas dinner wafting through the clear mountain air, a fourth, very large character breaks her hibernation and lumbers into the cabin, giving the dog a chance to defend her new home and Dessa a reason to finally go outdoors again. Dessa's sweet, simple narration, inflected with a bit of backwoods dialect, will draw preteen readers to this heartwarming tale of friendship between a dog who does not want to be confined and a girl who is afraid to leave her self-imposed confinement. The isolated setting, deep snow, and small cast of thoughtful, quiet characters combine to build a subdued atmosphere that is finally joyfully broken by the happy barks of "The Leanin' Dog," as Dessa names her new friend.-Walter Hogan.