National Dog Day Celebration with Max's Secret by Lynn Plourde +GIVEAWAY

Today in celebration of National Dog Day, I'm very excited today to share with you a new book I was introduced to.  It's titled:

I love dogs - I have two! So when I saw this book I was immediately drawn to it.  

About the Book
When a BIG, lovable, does-it-her-way dog wiggles her way into the heart of a loudmouth pipsqueak of a boy, wonderful things happen that help him become a bigger, better person. 
 
Timminy knows that moving to a new town just in time to start middle school when you are perfect bully bait is less than ideal. But he gets a great consolation prize in Maxi—a gentle giant of a dog who the family quickly discovers is deaf. Timminy is determined to do all he can to help Maxi—after all, his parents didn't return him because he was a runt. But when the going gets rough for Timminy, who spends a little too much time getting shoved into lockers at school, Maxi ends up being the one to help him—along with their neighbor, Abby, who doesn’t let her blindness define her and bristles at Timminy’s “poor-me” attitude. It turns out there’s more to everyone than what’s on the surface, whether it comes to Abby, Maxi, or even Timminy himself.




ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The author of more than 30 picture books, MAXI'S SECRETS is Lynn Plourde’s debut middle-grade novel. She writes of her switch: “At sixty years of age, why write my first middle grade novel? To bring my dog Maggie back to life, of course. When my beloved Maggie died three years ago, I got greedy. I wanted more time with her… Maggie gave me permission to sprinkle make-believe on her truth. To add, take away, change whatever I needed to in order to make the best story I could. And so I did. I turned my medium-sized, black, Irish-setter-mix Maggie into a giant, white, Great Pyrenees Maxi.”

I said I have two dogs - Lexi (right) and Griffin (left).  

They are both little dogs around 13 pounds each. Griffin is a poodle/bichon mix.  He's cute, adorable and not to bright! We love him to pieces. Then there is Lexi our 13 lb BEAST! We've only had her since the end of May.  

I have to tell you the story of how we got Lexi. 

I had been bugging my husband about wanting another pet and showing him pictures of dogs at the humane society.  This one little dog - Lexi - showed up one day.  He was smitten with her.  Her description said that she had a health issue and to call for more information.  I called and found our she is blind.  That made us only want to her more.  We planned to go in that night to meet her. But then - she was adopted! We were so sad because we missed her.  My husband and I agreed that if she came back she was ours knowing full well that chance of that was slim at best.  The next night I was scrolling through the animals again and THERE SHE WAS! We freaked! It was already closed, so we had to wait for the next day.  My husband rushed there to be there when it opened as I went to church for my son.  He got her on hold and after church we rushed back and fell more in love with her.  It was scary a bit to bring home a blind dog but now to watch her she does nothing but amaze us.  She runs - literally runs - full out into the world trusting in everyone around her.  She's the fiercest, bravest, most stubborn dog I know! Now hearing that the dog in Maxi's Secret is death - I have to read it! 

To celebrate this book and dogs everywhere I have a copy from the publisher as well as a print of the cover art (done by New Yorker artist, Maira Kalman!).

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