Strays, Paperback/Jennifer Caloyeras

Sometimes, life becomes unleashed... Sixteen-year-old Iris Moody has a problem controlling her temper-but then, she has a lot to be angry about. Dead mother. Workaholic father. Dumped by her boyfriend. Failing English. When a note in Iris's journal is mistaken as a threat against her English teacher, she finds herself in trouble not only with school authorities but with the law. In addition to summer school, dog-phobic Iris is sentenced to an entire summer of community service, rehabilitating troubled dogs. Iris believes she is nothing like Roman, the three-legged pit bull who is struggling to overcome his own dark past, not to mention the other humans in the program. But when Roman's life is on the line, Iris learns that counting on the help of others may be the only way to save him. With sparkling prose and delightful humor, Jennifer Caloyeras's novel beautifully portrays the human-animal bond.