It's not necessary to circle your reading chair three times before settling in with A Dog's Journey, Bruce Cameron's sequel to his bestselling A Dog's Purpose, but it would be appropriate. It's also not necessary to have read the first book; anyone who appreciates the pet-human relationship will easily embrace Cameron's premise that a dog's spirit is reincarnated over multiple lives. After several run-throughs, Buddy found his life's purpose: watching over Ethan. As A Dog's Journey begins, Ethan has died, and Buddy is at the lake, on the dock with baby Clarity, Ethan's granddaughter.
Buddy's personality remains consistent, even when he returns as Molly, Max and Toby, taking readers to the precipice of grief as each dog ages. It's the human relationships that are unpredictable. (Some people don't even like dogs!) But Clarity recognizes the love each dog brings to her, although Cameron never resorts to a "deja vu" conceit to explain why she connects with them. Nor does the plot become sappy. Clarity has a tough life, and her dogs offer comfort while narrating her angst. She flees her self-centered mother as a teen; it takes many years and four dog lives for Clarity to find peace. Told in straightforward prose, A Dog's Journey an adult novel, but is appropriate for readers age 12 and up, and is likely to join novels like The Art of Racing in the Rain on the bookshelves of literary dog lovers. --Cheryl Krocker McKeon, bookseller