Strange Neighbors

Sam: Dog Detective

by Mary Labatt

Jennie Levinsky can hear what her neighbors' sheepdog, Sam, is thinking -- and the junk-food-loving dog detective is thinking up more misadventures in this fast-paced, funny mystery. Dog Detective thinks there's a mystery brewing right next door! Three very odd women have moved in with a house full of caged animals. What's more, a scary-looking man comes and goes at odd hours. Sam is convinced the new neighbors are witches. After all, those animals look so wretched they must be under a spell. Curiously, Sam isn't feeling well, either. Have the witches put a hex on her, too? Can Sam, together with Jennie and her best friend, Beth, discover the truth before it's too late?

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Mary Labatt is an award-winning editor and a writer. A graduate of York University, Mary has published many educational briefs, position papers and articles on reading, the effects of poverty on learning, drug awareness, language arts, violence, the needs of adolescents and special education. Mary was the founding editor of the FWTAO Newsletter, a magazine for women teachers, that she edited for 14 years. She is also the author of a history of women teachers in Ontario, called Always a Journey. Mary has been honored for her contribution to education with the prestigious Greer award and has been made a Fellow of the Ontario Teachers’ Federation.

In addition to freelance editing, Mary teaches a week-long course every summer on how to write for children. Now that her family is older, Mary devotes the rest of her time to writing for children and raising dogs. She breeds and raises champion rough collies and Welsh Springer Spaniels, which were imported from Wales. People who read Mary’s children’s books will readily see that she loves dogs, so it is natural that she and her family live on a farm and raise dogs. In the picture Mary is shown with two of her collie mothers, Annabel and Chloe. Mary has said she is never happier than when little fat puppies are running all over the yard.

Mary’s Sam books were based on a real dog. Sam was Mary’s very eccentric, very nosy Old English Sheepdog. Sam used to stare to get her own way and she was insatiably curious. Mary took the idea and created Sam, the dog detective. If you haven’t read the Sam novels, you can meet Sam, the dog detective, in a new series of graphic novels called the Sam and Friends mysteries.

Mary lives on farm in Clear Creek, Ontario, with her husband, Larry, three dogs and two of their three children. Their other daughter just got married, so there will be room now for another dog!

Reviews

[M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another adventure of Sam the Sheepdog Detective. Sam, Jennie (who can hear Sam's thoughts) and Jennie's friend Beth think the new neighbors are witches who cook and eat animals. These are fun mysteries for young girls. Late 2nd to perhaps 4th grade.