War Dogs, Young Adult Edition: Tales of Canine Heroism, History, and Love

by Rebecca Frankel

Overview

In this special edition of War Dogs, adapted specifically for a younger audience, Rebecca Frankel offers a riveting mix of on-the-ground reporting her own hands-on experiences in the military working dog world, and a look at the science of dogs’ special abilities—from their amazing noses and powerful jaws to their enormous sensitivity to the emotions of their human companions. Her narrative gives us insight into the world of dogs in combat and the touching aspect of the relationship between soldiers and their dogs.

Frankel explores the long, rich history of dogs in the US military, from the spirit-lifting mascots of the Civil War to the dogs still leading patrols hunting for IEDs today. Frankel not only interviewed handlers who deployed with dogs in wars from Vietnam to Iraq, but top military commanders, K-9 program managers, combat-trained therapists who brought dogs into war zones as part of a preemptive measure to stave off PTSD, and veterinary technicians stationed in Bagram. She makes a passionate case for maintaining a robust war-dog force.

In this YA edition, Rebecca Frankel gives further insight into her work as a journalist and how it led her to explore the world of dogs and their handlers. With a compelling cast of humans and animals, this moving book is a must read for all dog lovers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250112286
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/06/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	303,578
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.85(d)
Lexile:	1190L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

REBECCA FRANKEL is deputy editor at Foreign Policy magazine. Her regular Friday column "Rebecca's War Dog of the Week" has been featured on The Best Defense since January 2010. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, National Geographic, Slate, among others. A Connecticut native, Frankel resides in Washington, DC.

Table of Contents

Foreword Thomas E. Ricks ix

Author's Note xiii

Introduction: Dogs in the Time of War 1

Part I

1 When Dogs Become Soldiers 11

2 The House of Misfit Dogs 31

3 The Trouble with Loving a War Dog 53

4 Beware the Loving (War) Dog 73

Part II

5 A Dog of Many Talents 93

6 The Road to War Leads Through Yuma 127

7 The Fallen 165

Part III

8 Wounds and Healing 183

9 The Never Again Wars 205

10 Home Again, Home Again 213

Epilogue: What We Talk about When We Talk about War Dogs 227

Acknowledgments 231

Notes 235

Index 247

Editorial Reviews

10/01/2016
Gr 7–10—In this young readers edition of her adult title of the same name, Frankel explores the roles that our canine friends play in warfare. A self-avowed animal lover and rescuer, the author displays enormous empathy for the dogs and their handlers throughout. Though the subject is military working dogs, their handlers aren't separated from the story. The descriptions of the various dogs, their handlers, and their deployments together are intermingled throughout. Most of the accounts focus on missions from Iraq and Afghanistan, though there are several from the Vietnam War. Frankel's remarkable ability to get up close and personal with these creatures and their handlers, highlighting their incredible bonds, makes for a full and rich work. Many of the mission scenarios contain graphic details, an element that may be troubling for sensitive readers. VERDICT A solid choice for those who love dogs and are interested in all things military.—Eldon Younce, Anthony Public Library, KS

School Library Journal

2016-07-20
Military service dogs perform a variety of roles, but those trained to sniff out IEDs are the primary focus of this effort.Like so many recent nonfiction works for young adults, this is a reworked version of a recent adult publication, also called War Dogs (2015). Frankel begins many chapters with brief, engaging narrative descriptions of war-dog missions or training episodes, then turns her attention to the details of the stories. Included are sad descriptions of missions that resulted in the deaths of dogs or handlers. One long section focuses on the extensive dog and handler training that goes on in a “K-9 village,” a realistic mock-up of an Iraqi town at the Yuma Proving Ground. There’s a proliferation of acronyms and initialisms, all included in a list in the extensive backmatter, and their use adds military flavor to the story that may appeal to some readers, but the sheer profusion of them can overwhelm. The volume is but lightly redacted (a reference to a dog as a “nasty little bitch” in the book for adults is prudishly absent here); the most striking difference involves the breaking up of the text into many more chapters than in the adult volume and integrating photographs into the narrative rather than isolating them in an insert. Sentence length and structure are not noticeably simplified for a young audience. Although fascinating, this lengthy effort seems nearly interchangeable with the adult version. (Nonfiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews

06/30/2014
Though she’s is a senior editor of special projects at Foreign Policy, Frankel’s weekly column about war dogs in the same publication is clearly where her heart lies; she shares her admiration for them in this frequently fascinating study of their role in the military. Dogs have been used in war for centuries, more often in more to take live than to save them, but their uses are many: they alert troops to danger, seek out bombs, send messages in hostile environments, and provide therapeutic comfort to veterans. Frankel explores all of these roles and more, explaining what makes dogs uniquely suited for these tasks, and shares numerous vignettes of dogs (and their handlers) in action, from training to deployment. Frankel’s stance on military’s use of dogs is far from passive. She is highly critical of the U.S. Army’s indifferent attitude to the effects of war on the dogs themselves, some of whom return from the field irrevocably changed and suffering from a canine version of PTSD. Her passion for her subject matter and deep appreciation for the dogs is heartwarming and inspiring throughout. Military aficionados as well as dog lovers will learn from and enjoy from this study of canine commandos and the service people who count on them. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Military aficionados as well as dog lovers will learn from and enjoy from this study of canine commandos and the service people who count on them." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher