Stella
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Stella by McCall Hoyle is an adorable novel for dog lovers ages 8 to 11. This story is told from the perspective of Stella, a beagle. Stella is dealing with trauma after the loss of her handler Connie. Stella has been trained to sniff out explosives and an unfortunate situation caused her to miss an explosive at a local airport that cost Connie her life. Stella’s recent foster parent can’t not handle her and returns her to a local facility where the Doc and technician are considering putting her to sleep. Fortunately, Esperanza, an old friend of Connie’s, shows up and decides to take on Stella with hopes of rehabilitating her.
Esperanza lives on a farm where she cares for Sheep. When Stella arrives she has lots of pleasant smells to take in - sheep, Nando (another dog), Gus (the sheep dog), Oscar (a cat), and Cloe (Esperanza’s daughter). Cloe is on summer vacation and is determined to train and care for Stella. Most of the story is about their growing relationship. Cloe also suffers from epilepsy, and Stella can tell when a seizure is about to come on due to the smell that Cloe exhibits. Unfortunately, Esperanza and Cloe think Stella is trying to be difficult as they are unaware that her behavior is linked to her prior training of sit and alert.
Extra drama in the story comes from a neighbor's two nephews who cause trouble for Cloe and set part of Esperanza’s property on fire with fireworks. Stella is separated from Cloe but through her determination she finds Cloe and alerts the others to her location. Nando also helps Stella find Cloe. Furthermore, by the end of the story Esperanza becomes aware of what Stella is really doing, and Stella gets a new permanent home with her favorite human.
A few noteworthy quotes/mentions:
As mentioned, there are a few mentions of euthanizing Stella in the opening chapters. Stella is aware of what they are talking about.
When Stella is separated from Cloe and feeling terrible - Connie seems to whisper and speak to her telling Stella,
“You must do the thing you cannot do,” she says again, more firmly this time. Suddenly, I understand those words–the words Connie repeated so often from favorite book. “You made a mistake, Stella. We all make mistakes. That doesn’t make us bad dogs. You can do this. You can do anything. Do the thing you think you cannot do, girl. Do it for me” (122-123).
There is also an instance towards the end where Stella sees Connie in the clouds looking down on her and tells her she is a good girl.
“It dawns on me that maybe that’s the meaning of true love. Makebe love isn’t something that can be earned through good work or destroyed by bad mistakes. Maybe true love is trusting someone or something so much that you feel safe enough to be yourself with them” (165).
Just an observation - there is never a mention of a dad or husband in the novel.
Stella is an adorable story that young readers will enjoy. The story has great themes about courage, second chances, and that one mistake does not make someone bad. For those who love animal stories, this is certainly one to add to the book shelf.
