How I Nicky Flynn Finally Get a Life and a Dog by Art Corriveau 250 pages

This is not your formulaic mystery with stock characters and stock plot. Nicky is a boy with a lot of problems. First and foremost, his parents are going through a messy divorce. Because of the divorce, Nicky and his mom move from their home to a crummy apartment and he has to go to a new school. And then his mom picks up a dog, a German Shepherd, at the pound to be his new, first pet. Nicky has a lot of fear and to tell the truth he is more than a little afraid of the new dog. It turns out that he was a former seeing-eye dog. Nicky wants to find out why Reggie was taken to the pound. So, he assumes the persona of the former owner's out of town grandson. It gets kind of complicated when he meets several people who recognize the dog and ask him questions about his "grandfather". Meanwhile, Nicky is also trying to reconnect with his Dad and avoid getting beat up at his new school. Nicky is a good kid; this is a good book.