Just plain didn't like this one. I thought it read like a first draft, so many sentences seem disjointed and incorrectly constructed. And there is rapid overuse of the word "for" at the beginning of sentences. "For of course no Zone could contain his appetite for space.", "For when the trucks run out," etc. It's as though the author wants them to have some dramatic impact, but the overuse prevents this from happening.

Maybe rapid is the wrong word, but it's one of those things that you start to notice and then every time it happens again you cringe.

It's one of those stories that doesn't really explain itself. Something has happened to the world, there are Zones and Invisible Cities and people shunned by society; but no real reason as to why. There is very little world building but things are obviously immensely different.

The characters don't seem to go by their real names and, again, there's no real explanation as to why (except for Skreech, who is feigning life as a boy), but everyone else seems to get this big end of chapter moment when they reveal their name. Again, it's never explained why people are like this. Why do they hide their names or give themselves other names? Why is that such a big deal?

Another unexplained plot-line is that Bradley can talk to his dog, and I'm still yet to figure out if this is just Bradley thinking his dog is replying or if they do have some sort of telepathy going on, it's not really explained. Or if it is, I missed it. There's a lot of boring and lengthy discussion between characters that just seem to stop the narrative in its tracks.

The novel is interspersed with chapters of random flashbacks that immediately stop the action of the narrative. Our protagonist, Bradley, and his dog have been captured by this street gang of dog fighting kids led by a maniac, and we break away for pages and pages about Bradley's life with his family before whatever happened to the world happened. They are explained as Bradley's dreams, but a character experiencing a dream does not take up an entire chapter. Ditto for storytelling. As in characters in the narrative sitting down to listen to an Old Woman tell them stories. They don't do this once, they do it often. Again, it slows the story to a crawl.

It also relies on one of my least favourite narrative tropes, where the weak girl in the gang is the one who gets kidnapped and the boy has to save her. I get annoyed reading on and on about Bradley's adventure to find and save his friend, Floris, but I would rather be reading Floris saving herself. Maybe that's just me!

Avoid this one, took me forever to finish it. Very disappointing, I expected a lot more from the author with his credentials. ( )

Ross McGee
EDCI 5120
Pow, T. (2004). The pack. New Milford, CT: Roaring Brook Press

Grade Levels: 6-11
Category: Science Fiction
Read Alouds: 1-7 Prologue, introduces the future), 107-124 (Hunger and The Hound of Hell fight), 214-228 (Victor comes out of his dog-like state, Hunger and Shelter have pups).

Summary: Bradley is a young man that lives in the future where hunger and homelessness are rampant. He as well as a few dogs and rough friends, lives in a part of the city where unwanted people end up. After a friend of his, Floris, is taken by vigaliantes, Bradley and a few friends go after her on a quest that takes them across several territories and through social circles of which they are not supposed to enter. In the end they get Floris back, Bradley’s dog goes to live in the woods, and he is back with the old woman that he started with, trudging through their lives.

Themes: One them of The Pack is that anything can happen in the future and it is a slippery slope when we start making laws about immigration and separating the classes. Bradley and his friends are on the wrong end of a split that happened because of small political choices that snowballed over the years into dreadful consequences. In a way, this book is a warning to those that would want to control everything in terms of political agendas and policy. Another theme concerns the bond between dog and man. Bradley’s dog, Hunger, is not only his best friend, but the most loyal being that he has ever come across. Hunger would give his life for Bradley and when Bradley gets ahold of a small amount of food, he always splits it with Hunger, an exchange that would not take place between most humans and their pets.

Discussion Questions:
How does the prologue set the stage for the novel? What else could have been included in it?
Does Hunger belong with Bradley, Victor, Floris, and Screech? Why or why not?
What does the future hold for Bradley? Make an educated guess, and be specific.

Reader Response: The Pack is a good example of why I should try to read award winning books instead of simply grabbing something off of the shelf. It’s not a bad story but is fairly poorly written and extremely predictable. The vague nature with which Pow describes the future doesn’t have much imagination in it and simply does not pull the reader into the world he attempts to create. I was somewhat interested in the way all of the dog’s thoughts were put on paper, like they were being spoken. I thought in the end there would be some sort of description of this, considering Bradley could read Hunger’s thoughts but there never was. All in all, it was a decent idea, poorly executed, and abruptly ended. ( )