Naomi is having a bad time. Her Mom and Dad are splitting up, her beloved dog Diesel has died, and she’s probably dead as well. But it’s hard to be sure. Maybe she’s not, maybe she has a second chance. Diesel thinks so, because here he is alive again and talking to her in her head. So she figures it’s worth giving the second chance idea her best shot. After all, Diesel says he knows.

Set in Sylvia McNicoll’s Canada, in some ways this is a simple gentle-paced hometown story of a girl in the summer before moving up to High School with a delightful dog thrown in. Except it isn’t that, because the author has used a familiar narrative to highlight how we make choices, how life can throw curve balls, how we learn to respond wisely, how love and trust work through all their ebb and flow. 

Naomi tells the story and through her eyes we see how everyone in her life helps her to open her eyes further and grow in confidence ready for that big move to the next school. She comes alive.

You can read about the author and meet the original Diesel here