Book Review: Soldier Dogs, Book 2: Skipper: Attack on Pearl Harbor (USS West Virginia, hero boy and dog)

Soldier Dogs: Attack on Pearl Harbor (Skipper), by Marcus Sutter (Harper Collins/Children, 2018, 167 pages, $7.99, grades 3-7, ages 8-12)

History Comes Alive Again With a Canine Hero

Soldier Dogs is a series that teaches more history than a history book! Skipper, a Labrador Retriever, was left on a beach in Hawaii, abused and abandoned. She became an independent ‘dock dog’ and strong swimmer, and found a new owner, Joe, whose father was the black head cook on the USS West Virginia.

Fun, Inspiring and Totally Exciting

Each chapter features a different drawing of Skipper. Perhaps the reader can determine if it foreshadows what will happen. In addition, much of the book is told from Skipper's point of view, in the dog's own words.

Boys will learn about the Navy and ships and each book also has a girl. Millie is a Hawaiian girl who makes leis for the soldiers and sailors out of shells that Joe and his bud Kai search for on the shore.

Time after time, Joe and his dog find themselves in danger or separated and have to learn to trust each other. “She [Skipper] needed to get to Joe. She wouldn’t rest until she did. That’s when it hit her: she was why she was here.” (p. 62)

Made-Up Words and Combinations

New vocabulary introduced includes wheel machine while new phrases include “smell the morning.” Book 1 had ‘listen to the street.’

In a scene with Joe’s father aboard the ship, “Skipper led him down the corridor, deeper into the ship. They had other masters and pups to save, including Joe but maybe – just maybe – they had a chance of doing it , as long as they did it together.” (p. 89)

Hero of Pearl Harbor

In this second book we have a stowaway, enlisted sailors, an abandoned dog, a birthday surprise, the bombing of Pearl Harbor and more, that take place primarily in a couple of hours on a Sunday morning in far-off Hawaii.

Skipper’s story will give you plenty of history slid unobtrusively into a fascinating adventure, along with a poster of Skipper, a Q&A, a timeline, facts about Dogs for Defense, and more!

What We Would Have Changed

In the first book, author Marcus Sutter used the now not-preferred terms, pack and alpha and master, the latter repeated here. DogEvals in the past has written to authors about such outdated terms and may do so again.

As in Book 1, Sutter again uses pup (or boy-pup) and master to describe the boys (and young men) and men in the stories (and girl-pup).

Why Seven Books in the Series?

Are you wondering why none of the books in this series stars a golden retriever? It turns out that seven breeds of dogs were preferred by the military in WW2. Families would donate their pet dogs to a program called Dogs for Defense. Those breeds are listed below.

Skipper's story will give you plenty of history slid unobtrusively into a fascinating adventure, along with a poster of Skipper, a Q&A, a timeline, facts about Dogs for Defense, and more!

Fun Fact

Each book includes a few pages of the next in the series. Can you spot the error about Book 2 in the bonus section included in Book 1?

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Caveat: This book was purchased for review.

Next: Stryker, Capture the Island

The complete series, each with a poster of the dog:

1. Chief – Air Raid Search and Rescue (GSD)

2. Skipper – Attack on Pearl Harbor (Labrador Retriever)

3. Stryker – Capture the Island (Doberman)(Secret Mission – Guam)

4. Ace – Victory at Normandy (Boston Terrier)

5. Boss – Battle of the Bulge (Alaskan husky)

6. Buster – Heroes on the Homefront (yellow lab)

7. Jack - Shipwreck on the High Seas (Boxer)