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Summary
Summary
Cracker is one of the United States Army's most valuable weapons: a German shepherd trained to sniff out bombs, traps, and the enemy. The fate of entire platoons rests on her keen sense of smell. She's a Big Deal, and she likes it that way. Sometimes Cracker remembers when she was younger, and her previous owner would feed her hot dogs and let her sleep in his bed. That was nice, too.
Rick Hanski is headed to Vietnam. There, he's going to whip the world and prove to his family and his sergeant-and everyone else who didn't think he was cut out for war-wrong. But sometimes Rick can't help but wonder that maybe everyone else is right. Maybe he should have just stayed at home and worked in his dad's hardware store.
When Cracker is paired with Rick, she isn't so sure about this new owner. He's going to have to prove himself to her before she's going to prove herself to him. They need to be friends before they can be a team, and they have to be a team if they want to get home alive.
Told in part through the uncanny point of view of a German shepherd, Cracker is an action-packed glimpse into the Vietnam War as seen through the eyes of a dog and her handler.
Author Notes
Cynthia Kadohata was born on July 2, 1956. She is a Japanese American author of children's books. Kadohata won the Newbery Medal in 2005 for her title, Kira-Kira. She also won a PEN award in 2006 for Weedflower and in 2013 she won the U.S. National Book Award for The Thing About Luck.
Kadohata was born in Chicago, Illinois, and was a high school drop out. She attained a BA in Journalism from the University of Southern California and went on to attend graduate programs at the University of Pittsburgh and Columbia University.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Horn Book Review
(Middle School) Cracker is a German shepherd living with her boy, Willie, until Willie has to move and Cracker gets a new job-training with Rick, who's going to Vietnam. Cracker learns to sniff out tripwires and hidden ambushes, and Rick learns to trust his sometimes rebellious dog, slowly gaining her undying devotion. After the two ship out to Vietnam, Rick relates the alternating boredom and terror of life in a war zone, his and Cracker's camaraderie with their squad mates, and their exciting stint working with Special Forces. After some early simplistic passages from the dog's point of view, Kadohata digs into the dog handlers' Vietnam experience with rock-solid details and a canny understanding of the emotions soldiers deal with. Without asking too much of her middle-school readers, Kadohata creates tension and pathos around the bonds between humans and dogs in wartime, spurring on the narrative with uncertainty about Cracker's fate. Those without much familiarity with the Vietnam War will find an easy intro via Rick and Cracker in this emotionally resonant tale. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Bred as a show dog, Magnificent Dawn of Venus von Braun was a German shepherd destined for greatness until a broken leg took her out of contention and into the arms of a boy named Willie. Reminded of the landlord's no-pet policy, the heartbroken boy answers a newspaper ad and Venus, now "Cracker," is accepted into a military canine unit to help soldiers sniff out booby traps in Vietnam. She and her handler, Rick Hanski, quickly bond and head to the front lines. Cracker and Rick's successful missions lead to more dangerous operations and they are ultimately separated during a siege. Critically wounded, Rick is sent home, not knowing what has become of Cracker, and it is a heart-wrenching wait for word on her whereabouts. Kadohata shifts point of view from Willie to Cracker and Rick. While the dog's thoughts and feelings supply the crucial visceral elements associated with her job and her relationship to Willie and Rick, she competes with Rick for top billing as main character. Willie is the story's casualty, as he realizes that Cracker now belongs to Rick. Divided reader empathy aside, the story is filled with action and accurately re-creates the experience of the military canine program, from aspects of training to the battlefield. It's likely to spark readers' interest in this little-known area of military history.-Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Since winning a Newbery medal for her World War II book, Kira-Kira, Kadohata has ventured into the muddier world, literally and figuratively, of the Vietnam War (the "American War" to the Vietnamese). Cracker-bred as a show dog, raised as a pet and later trained as a booby-trap-sniffing military canine-is a heroic and sympathetic character. Some of the tale is told from the perspectives of her boy owner, Willie, and her partner/trainer, Rick, but the lion's share is from Cracker's vantage point. Farr narrates the piece with patience and perfect diction. Her calm tone is only broken whenever trauma rears its head, and though there is plenty of tension, overall her Cracker keeps a Zen-like innocence and calm throughout (with an occasional shout of "Wiener!" when a favorite training treat is detected). In the same way that Kadohata avoids discussing the reasons for the conflict, Farr's portrayal of Cracker successfully keeps listeners inside the world of a dog's mind, to great effect. Ages 10-up. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
The author of Kira-Kira (2004) and Weedflower (2006) tells a stirring, realistic story of America's war in Vietnam, using the alternating viewpoints of an army dog named Cracker and her 17-year-old handler, Rick Hanski, who enlists to whip the world and avoid a routine job. From their training at a base in the U.S, complete with mean sergeant and close buddies, to their stalking the enemy, the heartfelt tale explores the close bond of the scout-dog team, relating how it detects booby traps and mines, finds the enemy, rescues POWs, and returns home to a heroes' welcome. Throughout the struggle, the dog and the teenager care for one another. There's no background on the conflict (he didn't and couldn't understand what he was doing here in Vietnam ). Rather, the focus is on how Cracker uses her senses to help the team accomplish its goals, and on her physical bond with Rick, who understands Cracker's every movement. Add this to books in the Core List: The Vietnam War in Youth Fiction (2006). Also give it to readers who liked Gary Paulsen's Woodsong (1990). --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2007 Booklist
Kirkus Review
"But she and Rick had . . . something bigger. She wasn't sure what it was. All she knew was that when he came to her in the morning, she had no choice but to twirl around and chase her tail before sitting down in front of him." Cracker is a German shepherd, owned by the US Army, who sniffs out booby traps in Vietnam with her handler, Rick. Kadohata has deftly intertwined a classic dog story with that of a soldier's by writing from both points of view, remarkably well, though her talents with realistic voice and immediacy of setting that garnered her the Newbery Medal are put to the test here. Rick's colloquialisms are essential to his character, but sometimes fall flat on the page: "The more Rick trained, the more he started to feel that Cracker was kind of like reading his mind or something." The narrative is slow to engage, starting with Cracker's previous owner, and plenty of saccharine. There's not much information on the war, nor do Rick's internal dilemmas reach beyond the surface. Despite thin spots, the story succeeds on the strength of its characters, their struggles and their relationship, reaching a readership that doesn't get enough quality writing in this genre. (Fiction. 9-13) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
