I may be well past my young adult reading years, but I loved every moment of Denise Orenstein’s “A Guard Dog Named Honey.”
The cheeky 11-year-old protagonist Bean and her eventual 9-year-old sidekick Phoebe are immensely appealing, and the plot, while seemingly simple at first, is full of fabulous twists and turns. The story takes place on Rock Haven, a.k.a. the Vineyard, but Bean and her hard-working mom, who takes extra shifts at Stop & Shop to make ends meet, are not from the rarefied summer crowd. Orenstein says, “I’m always struck by the misconceptions of our wonderful Island. Folks seem to assume that it’s only filled with celebrities and the very wealthy, while I’ve been lucky enough to meet people from all cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds.”
The very first scene thrusts us into the novel. Bean’s beloved teenage brother has gotten himself in trouble for a joyriding incident, and thrown in jail until trial. Terribly distressed, Bean is absolutely determined to get him out on bail, which is a whopping $1,000 and far out of reach.
Among one of the ways Bean tries to make money is to knock on the doors of each of the wealthier houses on East Chop Bluff asking to do odd jobs. She gets no traction, but she comes upon Phoebe in one of the mansions. Phoebe has an oddly “distinct” way of dressing in one wacky getup after another. She also has a good heart, can be wise beyond her years, and has personality galore.
Phoebe’s been left alone for the summer by her traveling parents with the slightly unnerving nanny, Edwin, and a new dog, an Italian Neapolitan mastiff named Honey, whose job is supposed to be guarding the house. Bean is initially terrified of Honey, describing her in part as having a “gigantic head probably the size of two basketballs, torso almost covering the entire sandy walk. And its jowl, at first unrecognizable stretched out flat on the ground, oozing with a thick layer of foam underneath and lying on either side of the dog’s face like supersized pancakes.” Following suit with the other characters’ idiosyncrasies, Honey has peculiar culinary tastes. Phoebe matter-of-factly explains that she eats scrambled eggs and tofu for breakfast, but likes blueberries and cranberry juice best.
As time goes by, Bean grows to care about Honey despite her constant, ever-present slobbering. Honey adopts three stray kittens, tending to them constantly, which includes tucking them in her jowls for safekeeping. Orenstein explains, “A friend of mine once told me about a St. Bernard who had puppies, and whom they had to check before she went outside since she’d cram the pups into her jowls for safekeeping. This image captured my imagination. I’m also fascinated by inter-specie nursing, which is not uncommon for many animals. I think it’s a wonderful metaphor for taking care of one another, despite our differences.”
Throughout the book Bean concocts a number of schemes to raise the money for her brother’s bail; the ultimate is to get the $1,000 by duping Phoebe, for whom she has a reluctant, growing affection. This puts Honey, as well as the girls, at serious risk. Orenstein keeps the suspense going all the way to the end.
The author is also skilled in using language to vividly draw her characters. Bean has a wittily sarcastic tone. In describing how she got her name: “I’m not really sure. It had something to do with my size, since I’m not short or tall, but ‘compact as a fava bean,’ my mother liked to say. Once I looked up ‘fava bean’ on the school computer and read that they’re ‘bright green and have a short season.’ When I mentioned this to my mother, she laughed and patted me on the head. Annoying to say the least.” It’s these little last-line zingers throughout that endeared her to me.
Orenstein says, “My book themes are often similar, and have to do with assumptions we often make about others. That what one looks like has little to do with what one has to offer; that living on the margins can be as consequential (if not more) as any other life; that our voices can always be found, even when hidden in the walls (as Bean and Phoebe discovered).”
I could tell you what she means by the walls, but that would be a spoiler, so I urge you to read and enjoy the novel, no matter what age you are.
“A Guard Dog Named Honey” by Denise Gosliner Orenstein. Scholastic Press, 2020. Available online and at Bunch of Grapes in Vineyard Haven for $16.99.