Grades 3 or 4 plus. POV of therapy dog Luna, who assists a therapist. Three group members (about age 12?) leave a session and go across Austin alone. A sweet story and positive portrayal of therapy. The pacing is a little on the slow side.

Thank you HarperCollins Children's Books and NetGalley for the eARC.

Kristin O'Donnell Tubb has done just a great job with her "series" of dog stories. Told in the point of view of the dog, Luna, we learn about a series of kids who are all in therapy for a variety of reasons. Luna is a therapy dog who sets off on an adventure with "her kids" - to keep a watch over them.

It's a sweet story. Very appropriate for 3rd/4th+. Upper MS may find this story to be "boring" - but it's a sweet "tail" nonetheless.

A sweet and charming middle grade tale told from the point of view of a therapy dog named Luna. Animal lovers will be head over heels for this one. Luna's a very endearing narrator.

I have a therapy dog, and I've helped with training for Service Dogs. I always go into books like these with a critical eye. I have to agree with the author and I am thrilled. This book will help students with all kinds of day-to-day things. Luna says, "My job isn't to fill holes. My job is to love clients." I adore this statement and wholeheartedly encourage young readers to read "Luna Howls at the Moon." What an endearing story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the digital Advanced Reader's Copy of Luna.

Kristin O'Donnell Tubb is becoming an expert at writing books about dogs. Her research is impeccable and I am not quite sure how she writes the dog voices so well. Any student that I recommend her books to comes back loving them and begging for more. And how can they not? Her stories, her characters, her voices, her story lines are engrossing and endearing. Luna is just another fantastic example.

Luna is a therapy dog who is responsible for 4 young charges. When one of them goes missing, Luna and her "kids" go to find him. The result is gripping storytelling and real characters. In a time when so many young people are having a hard time and dealing with so many things, Luna is a voice of reason.

I loved this entire book and could not put it down, just as has been the case with all of Tubb's books. I will say for the review that Luna has been my favorite but I know that is just until I pick up another one of Tubb's incredible stories to read.

First off, I love a book that is about a dog... or has a dog in it. I just really love the dogs. This book is pretty neat in that it is not just about a dog but told from the point of view of the dog. This particular dog is a therapy dog working to get her 50 visits completed to make her training official. The other dogs are giving her a hard time but she is almost there and determined to finish her appointments.

Luna works with kids and her trainer is trying to implement some group therapy sessions which she believes will help the four kids that she has been working with. At the first session one of them tells the group that he would bring a hoverboard to the next meeting, but then doesn't show up so the kids take it upon themselves to go and find him. Luna must decide if she is going to let her clients go off on their own or tag along on this crazy adventure. Pretty obviously she chooses to go and they are off on an unlikely run through the city with Luna at their side.

I really enjoyed reading this book from Luna's POV, she is so determined to keep her people safe and the way that the author writes her makes her so easy to follow along with. The author describes pain and grief well and while an adventure it is also a journey of healing. The kids all are struggling with things and coming together helps them each in different ways. It was great not only to read about the important role of a therapy dog but also to see therapy normalized in this book.

I think readers will really enjoy it and learn a lot along the way.

This is a wonderful book! I loved reading Luna's story. It's a heartwarming story that I hated to see end. This book should be in every school library. I highly recommend this book to dog lover's of all ages. Thank you HarperCollins Children's Books via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Luna is a therapy dog who works with Tessa, who counsels children in Austin, Texas. Beatrice, Amelia, Hector, and Caleb all are in therapy with Tessa for various reasons. When they all come together for a group session in order to work on interpersonal skills, things are a bit rocky. Amelia has been traumatized by a house fire and doesn't talk, Caleb is very particular about the way he does things and is dealing with his parents' divorce, and Beatrice has some emotional and behavioral issues after the death of her grandmother. Hector claims that he has made a hover board, but the others don't believe him, and when he doesn't show up for the next group session, the children are disappointed. When the parents are loudly voicing their displeasure with the group session and Tessa goes to quiet them, the children decide to run away from the church basement where they are meeting to find him at a place they think he will be, having checked his Instagram account. Luna (from whose point of view the book is told) is uncomfortable with them running away, since it is his responsibility to take care of them. The park where Hector is supposed to be is quite some distance, and as they make their way there, the children must work together and support each other in the very way that Tessa hopes they would in their group sessions. Along with an irascible cat called Sandpaper, they deal with Caleb missing his hand sanitizer, parents who are following them by GPS, a coyote attack, and a two teenagers who threaten them. Through it all, they get a good tour of an interesting city, bond with each other, and learn to trust others to help them. Luna is a comforting presence throughout and fulfills her duty of keeping the children safe.
Strengths: I will probably never go to Austin, but Tubb makes it seem like an interesting city. I found the moon towers especially intriguing! The reasons for the children leaving and going on their adventure are solid, and they do well under Beatrice's leadership at getting across the city. The way the stories are revealed slowly is interesting, and Luna's voice, while very dog like (No one has a plastic bag for the poop? What are the humans thinking?), also captures the shades of emotion in an innovative way. The threats they face are scary but not impossible, although I did worry when Luna got her foot caught in a waterway! The parents are realistically concerned, and their fears about group counseling are assuaged by the adventure. The cover alone will sell this book to dog-obsessed readers, especially since nothing bad happens to Luna!
Weaknesses: After reading the author's forward, I thought there would be more information about the therapy with Tessa, like in Gerber's Focused. While therapy was the reason the children came together, and they did gain some skills during their traversing of the city, this is much more of an adventure book. Also, I don't believe that Beatrice found HeeHaw overalls on E Bay for $12. (I looked this up because I HAD a pair of these in 4th grade, which would have been 1974! The cheapest pair I saw today were $85!)
What I really think: Luna is a great addition to dog books like this author's Zeus: Dog of Chaos and A Dog Like Daisy, or Hoyle's Stella and Bauer's Raising Lumie.

This is another home run for Kristin O'Donnell Tubb. Luna's voice in the role of therapy dog is perfect and the children she is helping are believable, have realistic problems, and the book is well written overall . Highly Recommend.
This book will appeal to all prior readers of A Dog Like Daisy and Zeus; Kristin's voice in writing about dogs with jobs is fantastic.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
I'm a sucker for dogs on the cover of books so this was an easy pick for me. I also really like that the author chooses to write from the dog's perspective as I think children really enjoy that. Luna the therapy dog and her "clients" end up on quite the adventure. Each child really grows from the experience and Luna is there to help them every step of the way.