Sharon Creech: Love That Dog

I bought and read this book the year it came out, after I had taken a “teaching writing” course down in Chicago and the instructor mentioned it. I had never encountered a book in verse before, and I instantly fell in love with it, especially since I know Myers’ works, and knew (and was/am familiar with) what an amazing writer he is. I have also been drawn to the format ever since reading this text, and most of my current favorites are books in verse.
The perspective Jack offers also enhances the read. I am not nearly as familiar with texts ideal for young boys/texts written for the young male perspective as I’d like to be, and this book opened up the possibility that I could become more familiar with quality books for boys. I think that Creech’s words contribute to my being able to identify with Jack’s perception and eloquent verbiage, but I have also come to the realization that truly good writers can write outside their gender.

The emotions that this book draws up in me also add to my love for the book. I bawl when I read Jack’s account of losing Sky, and when he is so thrilled that Mr. Walter Dean Myers read his letter and accepted his invitation. I know that thrill of getting what you have wished for, and I know the sorrow of a devastating loss. I can empathize with Jack’s hesitance in accepting poetry, and have experienced the confusion of not-really-getting what an author was getting at, and the frustration in trying to discern why I was being asked to study something that at the moment made little sense to me. I can identify with Jack’s awe of Myers, for if I were to meet my idol—and my idol responded to a request I made—I know I would be just as thrilled and “inspired” by such an event. I was explaining to one of my friends the premise of the book, and how moved Jack becomes by “Mr. Walter Dean Myers,” and I couldn’t help but well up in my description of the book’s events! I absolutely LOVE this book!