D-39: A Robodog's Journey Has CLAWS

Hello Willard Wild Cats! Thank you for sharing your school theme with us this month. I decided to apply your CLAWS to my new middle grade dystopian verse novel D-39: A ROBODOG'S JOURNEY, which will be released from Charlesbridge May 18, 2021.

Character: In a world where real dogs have been outlawed, D-39 is a relic, and Klynt is glad to tinker him back to life and add him to her Museum of Fond Memories. That tells you something about her character! D-39 is one of the most realistic looking robodog models that was popular before people grew tired of fur and feeding problems. And that's not all: D-39 is also a souped up version with a big secret!

Leadership: When boomblasts find their home in the Worselands, and Klynt is separated from her father, Klynt leads D-39 and a young neighbor boy Jopa across war-torn terrain in hopes of finding her mother—and also finding safety.

Attitude: Even as her world is constantly changing, from chaos to isolation, Klynt never gives up. She has faith that her mother is waiting for her, and that they can reach safety across the border, even when everything goes wrong.

Work Ethic: Klynt shows up every single day. Yes, there are disappointments and setbacks— D-39 runs out of m-fuel. There's no more food. Winter closes in. They don't know the way through the war-torn Worselands. But she doesn't stop moving forward.

Service: Klynt continues the legacy set forth by her mother Dr. Ersu Tovis, who, after the government ordered all dogs Eradicated, started the K-9 Corridor in an effort to secretly save dogs and move them across the border and into the Wilds. Of course Klynt does this in her own unique way—and in the process of getting to know her while creating this book, Klynt taught me what it truly means to be a hero.

Join the journey; read the book.

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Irene Latham is a grateful creator of many novels, poetry collections, and picture books, including the coauthored Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship, which earned a Charlotte Huck Honor, and The Cat Man of Aleppo, which won a Caldecott Honor. Irene lives on a lake in rural Alabama.