Thursday, October 8, 2009

Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle by Major Brian Dennis, Kirby Larson, and Mary Nethery


Nubs was the leader of a pack of wild dogs living in a border fort in western Iraq, and the fact that his ears had been cut off branded him a dog of war.  He lived a hard life, feeding on scraps when there were scraps to be had and barely surviving the harsh conditions of the desert.  Nubs:  The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle is the story of Nubs and the marine who named him, Major Brian Dennis of the Border Transition team 3/5/2, which was tasked with training Iraqi soldiers.

Brian first met Nubs in October 2007, and they became fast friends, sharing food and guard duty.  Each time Brian and his men left the fort, Nubs chased the Humvees.  When they returned, Nubs, starving and nursing a wound, eagerly greeted Brian.  When Brian and his men were called to the Jordanian border about 70 miles away, Nubs, obviously unaware that marines can't have pets, had no plans to let Brian go.  Featuring real pictures of Nubs and Brian in Iraq, Nubs:  The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle shows the bond between man and dog and Nubs' miraculous journey to a new life.

I first heard of Nubs at Book Expo America in May, and I snagged a pin and some dog tags advertising the book for The Girl, who is a big-time dog lover.  She's always wearing the dog tags and couldn't wait to read the book.  When an unexpected package from Hachette arrived a couple of days ago, she shrieked in delight, and last night we cuddled on the couch and read all about Nubs.

We both loved this inspiring, heart-warming story and fell in love with Nubs from the very first page.  Nubs is a very brave dog, and his story proves that a little kindness and love can change lives.  Nubs:  The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle is a charming story for children and adults alike.

Here's what The Girl (age 9) had to say about the book:

This was a great, awesome, incredible story.  I loved the pictures, and I loved Nubs.  It explained a lot about the dog and his owner and was just great.

The Girl wrote the review on a piece of notebook paper for me last night, and I wish you could see it because she drew a picture of Nubs (or at least the half-dog, half-cat version) at the bottom.  It's so cute.

Disclosure:  We received a free copy of Nubs:  The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine & a Miracle from Hachette for review purposes.


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14 comments:

Staci said...

I was immediately sad when I read that his ears were cut off!!! Sounds like a sad but good book!!

Lisa said...

Hy Anna! Thanks for stopping by my blog today re: Hugh and Bess. It just means so much when a fellow blogger goes out of their way to comment to say something nice! THANK YOU!

Have a great day!!

:)

Sandy Nawrot said...

Any story involving a dog has my emotional vote. My hardened heart softens at the first mention of a wet nose. I just received a book in the mail yesterday that I won from Maw Books about an elephant named Tarra. I love elephants too. I actually love just about any animal. I read the elephant book to the kids over breakfast this morning, and they were both enraptured. Need to post on that soon!

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

This sounds like a very sweet book :)

Darlene said...

This sounds like such a good story. Glad you and The Girl enjoyed it.

Jeannie said...

This sounds like such an inspiring story. Makes me want to give my dog a big ol' hug.

Glad you and The Girl liked the book. :D

Suko said...

This does sound like a touching story about Nubs. Thanks for your review!

Ladytink_534 said...

Someone cut his ears off?! Poor doggie!

Blodeuedd said...

Aww sounds like a cute story :)
I am sure that pic was just adorable

Kristen said...

I bet this is one that my youngest would like. It sounds really good.

bermudaonion said...

I flipped through this book at SIBA and thought it looked fantastic! I'm so glad you and The Girl loved it so much!

Veens said...

wow! This is something i would defnitely because I am a huge Dog-Lover like The Girl!
Thank u to The Girl for posting her views...I m surely going to get my copy when it is available here !

Thank u Serena... lovely review!

Anonymous said...

I love seeing The Girl's opinion, too. Thanks.

Anna said...

~Serena: As a dog lover, I think you'd really enjoy this one.

~Staci: Trust me, it's more happy than sad!

~Lisa: You're very welcome!

~Sandy: I can't deal with sad animal stories, so I try to avoid them. However, my daughter really wanted to read this one, and it was a picture book so I thought, how sad can it be? LOL

~Diane: Sweet definitely is a good word to describe this book.

~Dar: Thanks!

~Jeannie: Give Dixie a hug for me, too. ((HUGS))

~Suko: Thanks for taking the time to read our thoughts.

~Ladytink: Thank goodness there isn't many details about that aspect of the story. How awful!

~Blodeuedd: The pictures are amazing. Made me want Nubs for myself. ;)

~Kristen: I hope you'll give it a try. It's a keeper.

~bermudaonion: It's a great book. I wasn't expecting a review copy. I would have bought this for The Girl for Christmas, and it would have been worth every penny.

~Veens: You're welcome. And I'll forgive you for calling me Serena. We're pretty much the same person anyway! Haha!

~carolsnotebook: Thanks! The Girl will be thrilled to hear it.