All the Best Dogs

Set in a Brooklyn neighborhood, this story follows four sixth graders, two adults, and a changing count of six or seven dogs. Mei worries that her friends may see her as overly forceful after an encounter with Kaleb during a school-play rehearsal. Kaleb feels troubled by that incident and by a broken friendship with Ezra. Ezra’s anxious thoughts extend to his Chow Chow, Cash, while new neighbor Jilly stays with her aunt Valeria as her mother is in rehab. The adults’ dogs, including Panda, Paddington, Cup-Cup, Lottie, and Grover, remain closely woven into the young characters’ lives.