Billie is suprised when her brother brings a fellow Marine back from boot camp, but as they prepare to leave for war, Billie grows deeply attached to the stray dog that arrived with them. - (Baker & Taylor)

In September 1944 eleven-year-old Billie lives with her great aunt, Doff, eagerly waiting for her older brother Leo to return from boot camp, and desperate to find the father that left when she was little; but Leo brings a friend with him, a Navajo namedDenny, and the injured dog they have rescued and named Bear--and when the two young men go off to war Bear becomes the thread that ties them all together, and helps Billie to find a true friend. - (Baker & Taylor)

Booklist Reviews

A friendless fifth-grade girl, a bullied Mexican American boy, and a WWII Navajo soldier all find much-needed courage in an abandoned, injured black dog named Bear. While home on leave, Denny finds Bear and asks his friend's little sister, Billie, to watch over its recovery, and the dog immediately fills a hole in Billie's heart. Chapters alternate between Billie and Denny but tell Tito's story as well. Fifth-grade boys constantly belittle Tito, who never fights back but finds a champion in Billie. Denny, as a Navajo Marine code talker in the Pacific Theater, sees vicious fighting but carries the strength of Bear's spirit with him in his darkest hour. With background research, including interviews with Navajo code talkers, and a knack for generating a heartwarming, genuine story, Larson seamlessly weaves the lives of the characters into the fabric of the 1944–45 home front setting. Kirby's fourth stand-alone book in the Dogs of World War II series is certain to find a place on the favorites shelf for middle-grade readers and their adults, whether parents, teachers, or librarians. Grades 4-7. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

In alternating narratives, Larson relates the World War II tales of Billie, an eleven-year-old girl, and a Marine named Denny, a Navajo Code Talker. The story focuses on Billie's longing for friendship and Denny's desire to preserve his Navajo heritage. Bear, an abused dog rescued by Denny and given to Billie, brings the two together. Historical fiction lovers will be drawn to the heartwarming story. Copyright 2019 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Kirkus Reviews

The fourth in Larson's series about the Dogs of World War II shifts between a girl on the homefront and a Navajo Code Talker.Leo, a young white Marine, has brought his Navajo friend Denny home with him from boot camp. As they hitchhike, Denny senses a whimper that leads him to a wounded stray dog the young men decide to take with them. At Leo's home, his little sister, Billie, adopts the dog, naming him Bear. After the young men return to duty, the chapters shift between Billie and Denny. Orphan Billie (their mother is dead and their father abandoned them) has become a target for bullying, so she seeks companionship with Bear and her friend Tito, the young Mexican boy whose father manages her aunt's ranch. Meanwhile, as Denny trains to be a Code Talker, he flashes back to his childhood time at boarding school. Well into the story, a jarring interlude from the dog's perspective interrupts the story when he senses an old friend is hurt—this is Denny, who has been wounded in battle. The story is mostly Billie's, and both Denny and Tito come across more as cultural informants than fully fleshed characters. Neither escapes stereotype: Denny sees Bear in a vision during battle, while Tito gives gardening advice and brings tortillas to the gringos. A fragmented story that would have served better had it focused on Billie. (author's note) (Historical fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus 2018 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 4–6—A story of loneliness, loss, friendship, and identity set near the end of World War II. Readers meet 11-year-old Billie and see her struggle with the loss of her parents, her brother joining the Marines, and her best friend, Hazel, rejecting her. When her brother Leo comes to visit before shipping out, he brings his friend and fellow recruit, Denny, a member of the Navajo Nation. They also bring along Bear, an abandoned dog. Chapters from Denny and Bear offer readers different points of view. Denny's narrative focuses on his training as a Code Talker and his own struggle balancing his identity as a Navajo and a Marine. Denny experiences prejudice because of his ethnicity, as depicted in a scene in which he and Leo struggle to hitch a ride. Later, during a battle, Bear's spirit appears to Denny and guides him to safety; the book offers little context or information about Navajo spiritual beliefs and this scene may reinforce stereotypes about Native people. In an author's note, Larson describes a bit about her research and the interviews she conducted with several living Code Talkers. VERDICT Readers may want to seek out Joseph Bruchac's Code Talkers, or nonfiction accounts, such as Nathan Aaseng's Navajo Code Talkers and Andrea M. Page's Sioux Code Talkers of World War II.—Tamara Saarinen, Pierce County Library, WA