THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN

TITLE: THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN
AUTHOR: GARTH STEIN
Pages: 321
Date: 02/01/2009
Grade: 4
Library

I really wanted to love this book and was hoping that I would start the year of with a solid 5. Based on the reviews and enthusiastic reports I had heard about this book, I was in fact fully expecting to adore this book.
But, as my grade indicates, I did not end up loving this book. I didn't dislike it either, but for me the story was a bit too sentimental. And the last chapter of the book just pushed that sentimentality right over the top. In fact, without that last chapter, the book might have scored higher.
The narrator in this book is Enzo, a dog. He tells the story of his life, as he lived it with Danny, an aspiring racing driver, his wife Eve and their daughter Zoe.
When Eve dies, way too young, it sets in motion a chain of events that nearly destroys Danny, and almost separates him from his daughter. And all of that story is realistic enough, except for the fact of Enzo being the narrator.
I adore dogs and firmly believe they are more intelligent than most people give them credit for, but this book took that concept way too far for me.
I did love the analogies between racing and life though.