Suzanne Staples catches the desire of youth, when a girl focuses on one thing: to have her own dog. Once her dream dog finds her, her world opens to new adventures that include her dog. Sharing her dog is hard, when her sister humiliates the dog with dress up. But Suzanne is willing to allow that for the days that she has the dog to hike in the woods and fish with her.
In the back of all her activities, she dreads losing her dog to one wrong move, as judged by her dad.

A light, quick book that captures young hearts desiring a true friend and companion.

Spoiler [I did not like the parents' final decision, seemed abrupt and uncaring.] ( )

In my opinion this is a wonderful chapter book. I liked this book for 3 reasons. First, Suzanne Fisher Staples uses descriptive language throughout the whole chapter book. The sentence "the pads of his feet are nearly worn off, and his toenails are ground down to bloody little stubs", is an example of descriptive language used in the book. When reading the descriptive sentence I am able to imagine in my head the shape that the dog’s paws were in at this point of the story. Second, the writing is engaging. Suzanne, the main character, wishes for a dog that she cannot have due to her brother’s allergies, but one day she finds the exact dog she dreams about hurt in the median strip of a highway. The book engages readers to keep reading to see what happens to the hurt dog and if Suzanne gets to keep her wish. Lastly, the book pushes readers to think about others. Suzanne spent most of her time thinking about how much she wanted Jeff the dog, rather than what was best for Jeff and his well-being. The big idea of the story is that an undesirable choice for you could very well be what is best for others. Suzanne's parents had to make a choice for Jeff that she did not quite understand: stay cooped up in a house, or be free on a farm. After analyzing the title, I found that green can represent nature. At the end of the story, Jeff the dog finds himself at a new home- a farm including a much greater amount of land for running and playing compared to his previous home. ( )

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Book Links, March 2007, page 51:

"Through Jeff, [a ragged pup], independent, imaginative Suzanne comes to learn more about her family and herself in this charming, bittersweet story.