A Dog Called Homeless (review)

Middle-grader Cally Fisher has decided to stop speaking altogether, in reaction to her father's refusal to discuss her mother, who passed away last year. She finds a friend in a neighbor boy Sam, who is blind and nearly deaf and with whom she learns to communicate using tactile fingerspelling (which doesn't, as far as she's concerned, break her vow of silence). She also befriends Jed, a homeless man, and his dog, whom she dubs "Homeless" and whom she often sees in the company of the spirit of her dead mother. As time goes on, Cally becomes convinced that if she begins to speak again, the visions of her mother will disappear forever, but her attempt to save a near-drowning Sam requires that she shout for help. Additionally, Jed reveals that Homeless was actually a gift for Cally that her mother was bringing home, and that Cally's mother made Jed promise to find Cally and give the dog to her. The story is thus brought to a satisfying, if contrived, resolution, as Cally resumes talking, the family begins healing, and Homeless finds a home. The number of plot conveniences ultimately strains credulity, from Cally's instant friendship with Sam to Jed's surprise announcement about Homeless, and many of the characters are rather two-dimensional. Still, the heartbreak of losing a parent is palpably portrayed, and the slightly supernatural aspect of Cally's dead mother and her connection with the dog Homeless is intriguing and well drawn. This might also be a useful title to introduce kids to deafblind communication.