I didn’t understand what she was saying, and I didn’t care too much. I was so relieved to be in her arms again that I just cuddled against her and sighed.
She carried me around the car. We were outside a building much smaller than Jillian’s apartment building. Jillian had gotten out of the car as well and was standing and talking to a tall woman in a flowery blouse. This new woman looked confused and kept staring at me and CJ, wide-eyed.
CJ put her chin up slightly and straightened her back.
“Clarity June, what is that?” the new woman said.
“This is Max,” CJ said. “He’s mine.”
I wagged a little when I heard my name. I was starting to feel better.
The new woman said a lot of words in a high-pitched voice that I did not care for. I picked up my head from where it lay in the crook of CJ’s neck and looked around.
The building we were all standing next to had only two stories. It seemed surprisingly small. I could smell that the woman in the flowery blouse lived here, and there was even a smell of CJ! It was old and faint, but I could still tell that this was a place where CJ had spent a lot of time.
And there was another smell, too.
A dog. Female. Older than me, but not as old as Honey. She hadn’t been here lately; the smells were not fresh. But like CJ, she had spent a lot of time here.
My ears pricked up. My spine stiffened. I squirmed to let CJ know to let me down. When she set me on the grass, I got to work, sniffing hard, trying to figure out where this other dog had gone.
“He needed me, and I kept him, Gloria,” CJ said firmly. “I didn’t have a choice. I’ll take care of him just like I take care of Molly. You won’t even notice he’s around.”
“Well, you might notice,” Jillian murmured.
“Clarity June, I don’t know what’s come over you,” the new woman fussed. “It’s like you go away to the city for the summer and you come back a completely new person.”
Just then the breeze brought a scent to my nose. The dog who used to live here—she was nearby!
I jerked my head around. A figure turned the corner—a tall, lanky boy, walking a dog on a leash. The dog was straining forward, pulling him until he had to trot. CJ laughed. “Molly!” she called out. “Oh no, Trent, don’t let her go—she has to meet Max!”
But the boy had already released his grip on the dog’s leash.
She raced forward, panting, and threw herself at CJ. CJ dropped to her knees to hug this new dog and let her face be covered with kisses.
I sat back on my haunches in astonishment. This dog was licking my girl. Getting petted by my girl. Getting hugged by my girl!
“Oh, Molly, Molly, I missed you, too!” CJ crooned. She had both arms full of happy, squirming, wagging dog. “Trent, grab Max!” she called. “Gentle, Max!”
The boy who had been walking the other dog ran up and dropped down beside me to take hold of my collar. I would have shown him that it wasn’t okay to grab at me like that, but I was too riveted by the sight of CJ with another dog. Besides, CJ had told me to be gentle.
I had seen CJ with other dogs before. With Duke and Jay and Honey. She’d pet them and scratch them and talk to them, but they never got all her attention the way I did. I was her dog, and the others were just friends.
CJ set Molly down gently by her side and then both turned a little to face me. Molly sat inside the circle of CJ’s arm, panting with happiness, her tongue lolling out of her mouth, her black eyes bright and joyful. She wasn’t challenging me, exactly, so I wasn’t sure how to show her that I was meant to be in charge. She hardly looked at me. All her excitement—all her attention—all her love—was for CJ.
And CJ adored Molly. I could feel the love coming off my girl in waves.
That was … interesting.
“Look at Max,” CJ marveled. “He’s being so good!”
I was glad she’d looked up at me, remembered that I was more important. I was glad when she held out her hand and I shook my collar loose from the boy’s grasp and went to her.
The other dog, Molly, looked away from CJ long enough to touch noses with me. I could smell my girl on her.
That made it hard to growl at her or raise my hackles or show her my teeth.
There didn’t seem to be anything else to do but cuddle under CJ’s free arm and nuzzle my head into her side. If CJ wanted another dog around, I supposed I could get used to it. I’d gotten used to Sneakers, after all. Another dog should be easy after that.
As long as Molly always remembered that I was the boss. After all, I was Max.
STARSCAPE BOOKS
Reading & Activity Guide to
Max’s Story:
A Dog’s Purpose
Puppy Tale
By W. Bruce Cameron
Ages 8–12; Grades 3–7
Max’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Puppy Tale introduces readers to Max, a spunky Chihuahua–Yorkshire Terrier (Yorkie) mixed-breed puppy with a big personality and an even bigger heart. Written from Max’s perspective, the story follows the spirited pup’s journey from a dog shelter into the life and heart of CJ, a young girl struggling to feel at home in bustling New York City, where she’s attending a special art program for the summer. As they “train each other” to be a good owner and pet, respectively, CJ and Max also teach each other important lessons about how to bridge the sometimes confusing gap between how you see the world and how the world sees you. (CJ is also a key character in W. Bruce Cameron’s Molly’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Puppy Tale. If you have read, or have an opportunity to read, that story as well, you might enjoy comparing CJ’s experiences with Molly to her adventures with Max.)
Reading Max’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Puppy Tale with Your Children
Pre-Reading Discussion Questions
1. The central relationship in Max’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Puppy Tale is between a puppy and a person. Do you have a special relationship with a pet in your life, or can you imagine what it might be like if you did? Usually, we think of a person training, or teaching, a pet. In this story, a young girl named CJ learns a lot from a small puppy. Can you think of something you learned from an experience with your own pet, a friend’s pet, a class pet, or from reading a story, or watching a movie, about a special animal?
2. In this story, the human main character, CJ, hopes to be an artist. In order to attend a special art program, she has to live away from home for the summer, be apart from another beloved pet (her dog back home, Molly), and get used to life in a big city. Do you have a dream, or goal, that you are working toward in school, sports, the arts, or another area? Do you have to make sacrifices, or face challenges, like CJ does, to pursue your dream?
Post-Reading Discussion Questions
1. Max’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Puppy Tale is told entirely from Max’s perspective. Max doesn’t understand human language, but he manages to successfully “translate,” or interpret, at least parts of people’s conversations. What “cues” does he use to do this?
2. At first, Max perceives Gail and the other shelter workers and puppies as “giants.” But eventually he realizes that is not the case. In Chapter 1, he thinks: “And that’s when I realized an important truth. All of the dogs around me and the women who took care of us—they weren’t big. It was the other way around. I was small!” How does this realization affect Max? How does it influence the way he acts toward people and other dogs? How does Max’s view of himself differ from how his caretakers view him?
3. How does Max take matters into his own paws at the second adoption event to get to CJ and alert her that she “made a mistake” to leave without him? What are some of the physical obstacles Max encounters in getting to CJ? What are some of the personal challenges CJ has to consider before agreeing to adopt Max?
4. In Chapter 4, Gail, the shelter worker, tells CJ: “Dogs sometimes choose their people. We don’t know how they know, but they just know. And that�
�s what I think has happened with you and Max.” Do you agree with Gail? Do you think animals choose their people, or people choose their animals? Why do you think Max is drawn to CJ? In what ways do they both have to act bigger, or braver, than they actually are, or feel?
5. How does CJ’s mother’s friend Jillian (who CJ is staying with for the summer) react to Max’s arrival? How does Jillian’s cat (Sneakers) react? How does the relationship between Max and Sneakers evolve, or change, over the course of the story? Do you think two pets, like Max and Sneakers, can become “friends”? Why or why not?
6. In Chapter 5, Max says: “That was one of my jobs, keeping my girl happy. And the other was to protect her from anything that might hurt her.” Max’s sense of purpose is the driving force behind many of his feelings and actions. Can you cite some examples from the story that illustrate how Max fulfills his purpose? What are some of the things he does to make CJ happy? What are some of the things he does to keep her safe?
7. In Chapter 6, as she struggles with a drawing, CJ worries aloud to Max that she’s not talented enough to succeed in her art program. Then Jillian enters. What do we learn about CJ from the conversation that follows? What kind of relationship does CJ seem to have with her mother? What does Jillian think about CJ’s art program? How does CJ feel about being in New York City?
8. How does having Max help CJ develop her friendship with Stella? What do you think Stella means when she says Max is “a New York dog” in Chapter 8? How does Max’s toughness and curiosity inspire CJ’s discovery of her own “survival skills” for city living?
9. What are the naughty things Max and Sneakers do, in Chapters 8 and 9, which lead Jillian to change her mind about allowing CJ to keep Max? How much time does she give CJ to find Max a new home?
10. In Chapter 11, CJ says: “I needed Molly so much, Max. I was younger when I got her, and stuff at home … it wasn’t so great. But you—it’s different with you. You need me.” Do you agree with CJ’s perspective, that Max needs her? Or do you agree with Max’s belief that CJ needs him? Can both be correct? Can an animal and a person “rescue each other”?
11. What does Max do when he sees Sneakers trapped by the mean dog, Baxter, in the alley near Jillian’s apartment? Do you think Max does the right thing when he disobeys CJ’s command to “stay”? Why do you think Max notes: “I’d go back to being CJ’s dog in a minute, but first I needed to teach Baxter exactly who was in charge in this alley.” Is Max the only “hero” in Sneakers’s rescue? What role does Duke, the Great Dane, play? How does the incident with Baxter and Sneakers change Jillian’s view of Max? How does Jillian’s behavior toward Max change?
12. In Chapter 13, CJ hesitates at first, but then tells a man who is trying to cut Stella, CJ, and Max off from a cab Stella had called over for them: “I’ve got an important dog!” How does CJ’s choice to get into the cab and make this bold statement demonstrate how her attitude has changed? How has Max’s conviction that he is important helped CJ to realize her own value and importance?
13. In the last chapter, CJ’s mother, Gloria, comments that CJ has come back from her summer in the city “a completely new person.” Do you think she means it as a compliment or an insult? Why?
14. How does Max react to CJ’s friend, Trent? What does Max think of CJ’s other dog, Molly? Do you get the sense that Max will be able to form a new “pack” that includes Trent and Molly? Do you think you will see dogs differently, now that you’ve read Max’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Puppy Tale?
Post-Reading Activities
Take the story from the page to the pavement with these fun and inspiring activities for the dog lovers in your family.
1. THE DOG’S-EYE VIEW AND YOURS, TOO. All the characters, scenes, and events in this story are presented from Max’s puppy perspective. How might a person’s description, or perception, of some of these things be different from Max’s? Invite your child to choose a person, place, or event from the story (CJ; Jillian’s apartment; or a dog-walking outing, for example) and describe it to you in his or her own words. Together, discuss the similarities and differences between Max’s and your child’s descriptions. Discuss how size, eye level, knowledge of language, sharpness of senses, priorities, and purpose might influence the descriptions.
2. ART FROM THE HEART. At one point in the story, CJ is second-guessing her artistic ability. She feels disappointed when the instructor calls one of her drawings “inauthentic,” suggesting something about it doesn’t “ring true,” or the work feels forced or artificial. When CJ focuses on subjects she feels passionate about, and can closely relate to, like her beloved Max, or the black Lab playing with “his boy” in Central Park, her artwork improves. Invite your child to think about a pet, person, or place he or she feels passionate about, and encourage them to do a drawing, painting, or modeling-clay sculpture. Gather supplies, such as colored pencils, erasers, markers, brushes, paint, and paper. Perhaps you can invite other family members or friends to do pieces as well. You might even mount pictures on poster board and display sculptures in an “art show” for family, friends, or neighbors to enjoy.
3. HOW CAN YOU HELP? In the story, Gail and the shelter workers are working hard to help homeless puppies like Max. As Gail explains to CJ, shelters don’t have an endless supply of resources. You and your child might host a “Lend a Paw a Hand” Party, to bring a group of friends and family members together to make pet-safe items to donate to the shelter. Look online to find instructions for easy-to-make pet-safe toys and treats. Print out directions and recipes. Invite guests to bring felt or fleece scraps, recyclable plastic bottles, and other found items from around their homes. You and your child can deliver the “goodies” to the shelter. If possible, ask a shelter staff member if they can email some pictures of pets enjoying the goodies for you to share with the folks who helped make them.
Reading Max’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Puppy Tale in Your Classroom
These Common Core–aligned writing activities may be used in conjunction with the pre- and post-reading discussion questions above.
1. Point of View: Max, the feisty Chihuahua-Yorkie protagonist and narrator of Max’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Puppy Tale, encounters Sneakers the cat, at the apartment where “his girl” CJ is spending the summer. Max is bewildered by Sneakers’s decidedly non-canine ways. But what does Sneakers think of Max? What does sharing “her” apartment with a rambunctious newcomer look like from Sneakers’s perspective? Have students write two to three paragraphs from Sneakers’s point of view. Use the humorous and compelling voice the author created for Max as a model. Take special note of the unique details, sensory-driven descriptions, and reinforcement of key character traits that the author used to lend Max’s voice authenticity.
2. Communities and Relationships: Although she is surrounded by a city full of people and possibilities, CJ feels lonely and disconnected in New York City. With Max’s help, CJ cultivates a friendship with Stella, and explores more of New York City. Through her dog-walking job and excursions to dog-friendly Central Park, CJ discovers a fluid, but friendly, “canine community” of dogs and dog lovers, which reveals a “softer,” more playful side of New York City and New Yorkers. If CJ had known about all of this before she arrived in New York City, she probably would have had a more comfortable transition to her summer “home.” Have students write a series of “welcome postcards” to CJ. Include postcards from Jillian, CJ’s art teacher, Gail (the shelter worker), Stella, and, of course, Max. Using details from the novel and your imagination, think about what each of these “pen pals” might tell CJ, to get her excited about her upcoming summer in NYC.
3. Text Type: Opinion Piece. In the story, Max makes humorous observations about how humans use, or perhaps overuse, technology. He thinks CJ and Jillian should spend less time with cell phones and computers, and more time with dogs like him. T
here is a saying that there can be “truth in humor.” Do you think Max has a point? Do you think technology sometimes takes up too much time in people’s lives today? Write a one-page essay explaining why you agree or disagree with Max on this point.
4. Text Type: Narrative. In the character of Jillian, write the story of your summer with CJ and Max. How did your positive (and negative) experiences with them affect your view of dogs in general and Max in particular? How did your opinion of CJ’s artistic potential change? What did you learn about bravery and loyalty from Max and CJ’s relationship, or from the bond that developed between Max and your own cat, Sneakers? Is what you gained from CJ and Max a “fair trade” for the inconvenience they sometimes caused in your life and home?
5. Research & Present: FOSTERING PETS IN NEED. In Max’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Puppy Tale, Gail and the shelter workers are trying to find people to adopt Max and other homeless puppies. Fostering, or caring for a pet in your home for a designated time, is another important way people can help dogs and other pets in need. Go to the library or online to learn more about fostering, or your local shelter’s foster program. (HINT: Visit https:www.paws.org/get-involved/foster/ for a helpful overview of fostering, and to check out an example of a foster program in action.) Use your research to create an informative booklet about fostering programs and opportunities. If possible, make copies to share with classmates, friends, and other members of your school community.
6. Research & Present: WHICH BREED DO YOU NEED? In Max’s Story: A Dog’s Purpose Puppy Tale, CJ walks dogs of different breeds, with different personalities. CJ’s special relationship with Max illustrates that some dogs, or dog breeds, are only “a good fit” for particular owners or situations. Go to the library or online to learn more about different breeds. (Hint: Visit www.akc.org.) Reaching out to local vets or breeders might be helpful, too. Select two to three breeds you find interesting. Find out about their personalities, energy levels space and exercise requirements, grooming needs, and health issues. Use your research to create a PowerPoint or other multimedia style presentation to share with your classmates. Include your recommendations for the kinds of owners or environments you’d recommend for each of the breeds.
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