“I’VE HAD MANY NAMES. OSCAR. RUSTY. FLINT. CLINT. I FORGET THE OTHERS. WITH EACH ADOPTION, THE NEW OWNER TRIED TO ERASE THE MEMORY OF THE PREVIOUS ONE. NEW NAME. NEW IDENTITY. FRESH START. COOP? YEAH, I COULD LIVE WITH THAT.”

 

“My last night at Derby Animal Shelter, I couldn’t sleep. Not just because the room reeked of urine, thanks to Buck, my roommate. And not only because the fluorescent lights buzzed and flickered, casting creepy shadows across the cold concrete floor. 

Of all the reasons I couldn’t sleep, the thought of morning topped the list. Another open house. Another round of visitors sweeping through the building, eager to adopt a dog to suit their needs. Not too old. Not too short. Definitely not fat. Gotta be smart and oozing with personality. The list was endless.”

An aging, cynical, down-and-out dachshund, Coop faces the ultimate test when his new owner, Mike, and Mike’s grandchildren, Zach and Emma, run into trouble. Mike rescued him, but does Coop have what it takes to do the same?

  • HONOR BOOK, 2020 Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award (MYRCA) - Sundog Category

  • BEST BOOKS, Canadian Children's Book Centre, Spring 2019

  • HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, CM Reviews, Volume XXV

 

Reviews

“A quick and enjoyable read filled with endearing characters, moments of humour and heartfelt storytelling, Coop the Great is a wonderful middle-school novel for all readers... .this is a novel worthy of purchase and priority placement on bookshelves. Highly recommended."

- CM Reviews, Volume XXV / Issue 26

“If you are a fan of canine literature or movies like A Dog's Life, this is your book. It is very involving and radiates decency. I had to get to the end, desperately hoping that everything worked out for the heroes, human and canine."

- Kenneth Oppel, author of Silverwing, Airborn, The Nest, The Boundless, Inking and others

Coop the Great
2018 / Larry Verstraete
Published by Great Plains Publications
ISBN 978-1-77337-009-5 (softcover)
ISBN 978-1-77337-010-1 (EPUB)
ISBN 978-1-77337-011-8 (Kindle)