Without ever leaving the confines of my comfy chair, Rita Monette transported me back to Louisiana, circa 1956, and into 10-year-old Nikki Landry's world. A carefully-crafted love story about a girl and her dog, Monette stirs up her brand of literary gumbo using unique smells and settings, while creating believable characters with a flavor of down-home dialogue. Add a spicy mixture of an old legend, topped with delectable mannerisms and savory Cajun slang, and you've got yourself one heck of a mouth-watering read for middle-graders through to adult.
The Legend of Ghost Dog Island would be a great addition in any classroom setting to learn and study about the history of the Cajun people, and life on the Louisiana bayous in mid-twentieth century. My stomach is already starting to grumble for Ms. Monette's next installment.
Behind every legend lies the truth.
Moving is nothing new for ten-year-old Nikki Landry. Her fisherman father relocates their raggedy old houseboat several times a year in search for better crabbing spots. However, their latest move has brought her to a mysterious bayou where she feels something is watching her from a nearby island.
Nikki learns of a local legend about something sinister inhabiting those swaps, stealing the souls of dogs…which would explain the strange howling sounds. Papa reassures her there's nothing o the island but gators and snakes. He would know. He's spent his whole life trapping and fishing those bayous and swamps. But Nikki and her new friends uncover strange happenings from years ago, that may have started the old legend, and town folks aren't talking. Then her beloved beagle goes missing.
Rita Monette was born and raised in Southwest Louisiana. After retiring from her "real" job as an administrative assistant for the State of Michigan, Rita began doing what she always wanted to do…write and paint. Five long years later, Musa Publishing offered her a contract for her debut middle grade novel, The Legend of Ghost Dog Island, which also includes her artwork. Her stories are set in the beautiful, yet mysterious, bayous and swamps of her home state. Rita now lives with her husband, four lap dogs, and one lap cat, in the mountains of Tennessee.