Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9566 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-03
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Synopsis
Joy and heartbreak combine in this bittersweet tale of a champion greyhound's journey through life -- and from owner to owner! "The sack wasn't just drifting gently along like everything else, it was turning of its own accord. There was definitely something inside it, struggling against the side of the plastic bag, kicking at it, squeaking and squealing in terror. He had no idea what it might be, only that it was alive and in danger of drowning." When Patrick saves a litter of greyhound puppies from the canal, he can't bear to hand them all over to the RSPCA. He pleads with his parents: couldn't he just keep one of them? But nothing will convince them and Patrick cries himself to sleep -- only to be woken by a greyhound puppy licking his face! Patrick christens his puppy Best Mate, and that's what he becomes. Patrick's favourite thing is to watch Best Mate running at full stretch on the heath, a speeding bullet, a cheetah-dog. Until one day Best Mate is kidnapped by a greyhound trainer, and begins a new life as a champion race dog. Suzie, the greyhound trainer's step-daughter, loves Best Mate on first sight and gives him a new name, Bright Eyes.But what will happen when he can't run any more?

From the Inside Flap
The bag wasn't just drifting gently along, it was turning of its own accord. There was something inside it, squeaking and squealing in terror. Patrick didn't think about it. He shrugged off his school bag and leaped into the canal.

For Best Mate, being rescued from drowning as a young puppy is only the start of his adventures. From unwanted burden to favourite companion, and from pet to champion race dog, this remarkable greyhound proves that it's not just cats who have more than one life. Cast aside, kidnapped, adopted or living rough on the streets, Best Mate can always find a way to survive. But will he ever find a real home?

From the Back Cover
International bestselling author Michael Morpurgo has written a moving, compulsively readable story of an innocent animal and the people - both good and bad, both young and old - who shape the course of his life.

Customer Reviews

Good story - BAD ENDING!!!!!!
The story idea is great, the writing is great but the ending, BAD!!! I love dogs and as i own a two, and one of them is a grey hound I was immediately
attracted to this book, so after long last I got it from the library. I found everything brilliant in the first chapter. (the chapter was 68 pages) It starts where Patrick finds 5 puppies in a sack that had been drifting in some water and then he keeps a puppy. Then it gets kidnapped and the story goes on. But strangely it is written in such a way you want Patrick to get Best Mate (The dogs name) back, instead of wanting it to just drift between owners. And it all ways seems Patrick is his rightful owner and thats where the end ruins it. I won't tell you the end but I'll say this: The end I thought was just sad and stupid!Patrick never finds out things I personally thought he should have found out, and So, good story but ruined by the ending!!!!

Mookster age 11

Positively a beautiful, heart-breaking book...
This is a wonderful book, although it's the saddest I've ever read. I don't want to give too much away, but it starts off with a little boy called Patrick, who is picked on at school, and one morning, on his journey to school, walks past the canal where he sees a sack with whimpering noises coming from it drifting along down the canal. Patrick retrives the sack from the waters and finds five little greyhound puppies inside. The book doesn't sound sad so far, but, trust me, it is. It's the most heart-breaking book ever!

Love it.

Cute Story
I bought this book because the picture on the jacket could have been my rescue dog down to the last whisker. Only then did I find out it was a childrens book and fictional. However Michael Morpurgo captured the spirit of the greyhound and I was hooked from page one. It is a charming superbly written book. My only criticism is that I was a bit miffed by the ending.