What’s better than being best friends? Being best friends who volunteer together at the Roxbury Park Dog Shelter! A heartwarming story about friendship, family, and cute canines, Roxbury Park Dog Club #1: Mission Impawsible is perfect for tween readers who snap up books from series like Cupcake Diaries and Candy Apple, or for anyone who loves dogs. This first book, an engaging animal shelter story, follows Kim, who’s great with dogs. She’s the only person who can get her neighbors’ dog, a sweet but lazy basset hound named Humphrey, to go on his daily walk, and she makes it look so easy that her brother calls her the dog whisperer. So she can’t wait to start her seventh grade volunteer project. But amidst all the middle school drama of making new friends, the shelter is running out of money and might have to shut down…unless Kim and her friends Sasha and Taylor can save it! Friendship Stories: Navigating the ups and downs of seventh grade is easier with best friends! Follow along as Kim, Sasha, and Taylor team up for the cause they care about most. - Problem Solving for Kids: When their favorite animal shelter is threatened with closure, it’s up to the newly formed club to come up with a brilliant plan to save it. - Chapter Books for Animal Lovers: Filled with adorable and funny dogs, from a lazy basset hound named Humphrey to a whole shelter full of pups who need a home. - First in a New Series: The perfect start to a fun-filled series that proves kids can make a big difference for their furry friends. Gr 3-6-This new series begins with simultaneous releases of the first two books featuring best friends and dog enthusiasts Kim, Sasha, and Taylor. Mission Impawsible is presented from "dog whisperer" Kim's point of view. The seventh-grade girls are assigned volunteer work after school a few days each week and find a perfect opportunity in a failing dog shelter. With some creativity, dedication, and very hard work, Kim learns she has the ability to engender real change as she and her friends establish the Roxbury Park Dog Club to save the shelter. When the Going Gets Ruff is presented from Sasha's point of view. Sasha is determined to prove to her mother that she is responsible enough to have her very own pet, but everything she tries goes wrong. When Sasha briefly loses a dog from the Dog Club, she is certain she's done for. Ultimately, however, she learns the true meaning of responsibility-with a little help from her friends-and might just find her perfect furry companion. While well paced and engaging, these series starters are unfortunately unremarkable. The Dog Club's problems are slight, and conflicts resolve easily. Reminiscent of Ann M. Martin's "The Baby-Sitters Club" series (Scholastic) but with less substance, these titles don't offer anything new to the pet-fiction genre. However, if readers are hungry for more friendship and doggy reads, this series might be worth the venture. VERDICT Strictly an additional purchase; recommend for those libraries with readers clamoring for more quick, dog-themed reads.-Taylor Worley, Springfield Public Library, ORα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.