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Formats
Ebook Details
  • 04/2021
  • 978-1-0879-5996-2
  • 62 pages
  • $2.99
Paperback Details
  • 04/2021
  • 978-1-0879-5995-5
  • 72 pages
  • $6.00
Paperback Details
  • 04/2021
  • 978-1-0879-5995-5
  • 72 pages
  • $6.00
The Garbage Can Gang: Home at Last
A modern fable about three lost dogs living on the streets of Tucson AZ. learning about life and looking for a new home.
Reviews
A dynamic dog duo wanders the city streets looking for food, shelter, an escape from Animal Control, and perhaps a better life. Little Pancho, a ten-year-old Chihuahua, and a young Staffordshire Terrier (aka a pit bull) named Doofus become friends on the street, and eventually meet another dog friend, Meghan. The three work together to navigate the transient life of street dogs, each either missing their past lives and owners or hoping to create a better future. (They refer to themselves as “homeless.”) Told in quick chapters full of action and featuring occasional full-page digital illustrations, Smith’s debut is a quick and fun heart-filled read for younger dog lovers.

Half-way through the story, Smith reveals the dogs’ back stories, adding much-needed insight into the characters but painting a troubling portrait of two of the previous owners. Doofus’s previous owner lives in a trailer park, is unemployed, lazy, angry, and won’t work for money and so orchestrates dog fights instead. This stereotypical poor white couple is matched by the Mexican family who once owned Pancho, the man working in construction, the woman bearing six kids, and her kids each having six kids of their own. That portrayal is presumably intended as complimentary, but it smacks of the “model minority” myth.

Despite the flawed human characterizations, The Garbage Can Gang still manages to tug at the heartstrings and show how small things like kindness can make a difference in people–or pups’–lives. Ale Moreno’s lively illustrations also bring welcome personality to the characters, focusing on the details of the dogs, like the scar on Doofus’s face, or the poofy hair on Meghan. Ultimately a tale of adventure, friendship, and the joys of home, dog lovers will find pleasure in The Garbage Can Gang: Home At Last, though adults should be prepared to discuss stereotypes with young readers.

Takeaway: A heartfelt entry in the storytelling tradition about dogs and the powers of love and friendship.

Great for fans of: Jamie White’s Shelter Dog Blues, Sarah Clark Jordan’s The BossQueen, Little BigBark, and the Sentinel Pup.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A

Formats
Ebook Details
  • 04/2021
  • 978-1-0879-5996-2
  • 62 pages
  • $2.99
Paperback Details
  • 04/2021
  • 978-1-0879-5995-5
  • 72 pages
  • $6.00
Paperback Details
  • 04/2021
  • 978-1-0879-5995-5
  • 72 pages
  • $6.00
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