Guide Dog

by Dorothy Clewes, Peter Burchard (Illustrator)

One moment nineteen-year-old Roley Rolandson was happily delivering Christmas packages along his mail route — the next, he was in the hospital virtually helpless and unable to see. All Roley could remember was a dog hitting him from behind, a blinding flash, then nothing....
Faced with permanent blindness, Roley rejects everything and everyone who might help him—until two young friends, Susan and Steven, do break through some of Roley's resentment and persuade him to apply for a guide dog.
Roley enters a Training Center where he is given Mick, a golden Labrador retriever, the pick of the lot. But the struggle has only begun. For Roley rejects Mick from the beginning even though she constantly tries to win his respect and affection.
Dorothy Clewes tells the dramatic story of a boy's struggle to come to terms with life and to face the future with determined hope. The story is tense and moving, told with real insight into a tragic human problem lived out with courage.

Genres: Animals, Dogs

159 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Born in 1907, in Nottingham, Dorothy Mary Parkin was the daughter of Frank and Annie Gertrude Parkin. She was educated privately, studied pharmaceutics at the University of Nottingham, and worked for a doctor for nine years. She was married in 1932 to Winston Clewes. Her first book, The Rivals of Maidenhurst, was written when she was seventeen, and published under her maiden name, Dorothy M. Parkin. She went on to write many animal and adventure stories, published under her married name, Dorothy Clewes.

Reviews

[Naomi McCullough]

I've had a love for books with blind characters who have to learn to overcome the challenges, but this one somehow escaped my reading list for years! It was a fresh setting in England and the mixture of a mystery along with the blind school side of things really added to the adventure.
I've always wondered how I'd do with a dog leading and my goodness this made one really think. Mick is such a sweet dog, and I really loved Nurse Susan, Steven, and the loyal Constable. Great all the way around!

[Laura]

A pleasant book, and it was fun remembering that at one point police could use the irregularities of typewriter keys as clues. How often do you read about that nowadays? People were nice to each other, which gave the book a friendly feel even when the main character was struggling/moping, and of course it has a happy ending. :-)

[Caryn]

This is a thoroughly enjoyable story, well written with engaging characters. There is some history of how guide dogs for the blind developed and bit of a mystery and romance nicely woven into the story.

[Ana]

A fun tale of a boy going blind and getting a guide dog after a bit of struggle. Loved the glimpse into the 1960s.

[Sharon Buxton]

D+. fiction, children's/teen fiction (4th grade reading level/ YA subject matter), accidental blindness, criminal revenge, blindness, seeing-eye dog, from stash, keep