This early reader chapter book is about a girl, her best friend, and their unbounded love of dogs. When the story opens, Lexi is having a rough time. Her best friend, Simon, is moving during the summer, and to make matters worse they recently had a big fight about it. Lexi is distracted from her woes when she and some of her other friends discover that their beloved toy store has been sold to make way for a new pet store. The magical revelation of Power's Pets quickly overwrites any memories of the old toy store, and revives in Lexi her burning wish to get a dog of her own. Sadly, her parents aren't nearly as enthusiastic. Imagine her surprise, then, when they wind up in the shop by accident and her parents agree to buy one! It almost seems like magic: an important paper is whipped out of her hand, blown by the wind right into the pet store, she and her parents run in after it, the dog Lexi wants to buy jumps in her mom's arms, and when Lexi asks for the hundredth time if she can have a puppy, her parents actually say yes!

As the story progresses, it becomes clear that Lexi's new dog, Luna, actually is magic: she has a special trick where she makes a few moves and the air gets sparkly, and after that happens, anyone in the vicinity has to speak the complete truth. (Apparently the trick makes parents say yes to new puppies, as well.) Lexi uses her dog's special ability to try and find out why Simon is still avoiding her, and to attempt a reconciliation. In the end, she realizes that she needs to work out her problems with Simon without relying on magic, and finally has a heart-to-heart with her moving best friend. Lexi learns that Simon doesn't feel as happy about leaving as he had earlier let on, and has been avoiding her because he is sad to think of everything he will miss. She also finds out that Simon urged her parents to get her a dog, to keep her company while he was gone. The happy ending is made even happier when the two friends figure out a way, with a little help from Mr. Powers the pet shop owner, that they can still see each other on a regular basis after Simon moves.

To begin, I should admit that my daughters really love this book. They both are all about those animals, and I assume many other young readers will feel the same way. It is a story about a pet store and a young girl who finally receives the dog she has always wanted. This is a kid fantasy in a book. From my older perspective, though, the story feels canned and unoriginal. The writing is decent, the main character Lexi does have some minimal growth through the story, and the plot lines are tidily tied up by the end. Nothing special, but a complete and average children's story. My biggest problem with the book was Luna's special power. She forces people to tell the complete truth, which sounds nice in theory, but is kind of terrible. All of us have thoughts in our head that we don't want the world to hear. Imagine having those tugged out of you. And yes, the author does use this plot device in that way. Once Lexi realizes what her dog can do, she intentionally uses it on her mom to force her to explain what she hasn't told her about Simon. Turns out, her mom was trying to respect Simon's wishes by not saying anything, and her advice to Lexi, when the spell wears off, is so much more powerful than a truth-inducing dog: why don't you try talking to him? I'm glad the author does have Lexi work things out with her own abilities, in the end, but the whole plot gimmick of the magical dog rubbed me the wrong way. Kids are unlikely to see anything wrong in the scenario, as they will be focused on cute puppies and magic. With all its flaws, this chapter book easily held the attention of my kids, and made them want to read more in the series. In the end, the book is a mixed bag for my family. ( )