Sydney Porter: Dog Girl

A retired bomb-sniffing dog named Fred teaches Sydney his philosophy of kindness, about the Star Path, and how to survive on the streets. Good thing, too, since she's been magically transformed into a small brown dog. Dad's PTSD has the whole family on edge. Sydney tells her best friend Rachael that she wishes she were a dog so that her dad would talk to her like he does with Fred, the German Shepherd he brought back from Afghanistan. A magical bus driver grants her wish and sends her on a harrowing journey, narrated by a strong female lead character who is seeing life from the perspective of a four-legged mutt.

This touching, action adventure, humorous fantasy, Teen and YA family fiction, follows Syd's journey from kid to dog and back. Along the way she meets other stray retired war dogs and forges a canine family that helps her understand her human parents.