by McCall Hoyle, Author of Forever Ripley
Forever Ripley is my love letter to dogs. It is a celebration of the special place dogs hold in our homes, our lives, and our hearts. For as long as I can remember, I’ve felt a special connection to dogs and cats and horses. Well into adolescence, I hoped to train horses for a living.
Instead, I ended up teaching middle and high school and have enjoyed twenty plus amazing years in the classroom. I’ve always been intrigued by teaching, learning, and communicating. I’m fascinated by language and by the human brain. I’m even more fascinated by the canine brain and by learning to communicate with a species that does not speak our language.
I’m fortunate to have friends who are professional dog people and to have had the opportunity to participate in various dog sports and activities off and on throughout my adult life; as part of these events, I’ve spent hundreds of hours in dog training classes and working with a variety of dogs, and I’ve also spent hundreds more hours reading books about dog training, dog cognition, and more.
I try to be true to the canine characters in my books and not overly anthropomorphize them. That starts by choosing a dog, or breed of dog, that best fits the family, theme, or issue it will encounter in the book. The American Kennel Club describes the German Shepherd Dog as a “steadfast guardian,” which is why I chose this breed for Forever Ripley.
I imagine a lot of readers will come to Forever Ripley and see it as a story about a family learning to celebrate a beloved pet and learn how to say goodbye when the time is right. To be fair, that is an important part of the story. But to me, what Ripley’s story is really about is the enduring effects of love and friendship. Helen Keller once said, “All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” I find great comfort in those words when I reflect on the people and pets whom I have loved deeply but who are no longer with me. And I think Ripley would, too, because she has loved her girl, Charlie, deeply. Ripley has taught Charlie by example everything she knows about being brave and about being a true friend. She’s done the most important work a dog can do: She’s raised her girl. She’s been a good dog. Now she can bask in that joy and rest and trust her girl to take care of herself.
Although you may shed a tear or reach for a tissue while reading, I believe you and the young readers in your life will also laugh at Ripley’s doggy antics, like her joyful zest for a good game of tug and her obsession with fried chicken, and you’ll most likely find yourself smiling as you contemplate how much your own pets do and do not understand about the “strange” ways of their humans.
When you turn the last page of this book, I hope you’ll make time to curl up with your own dog for a good rest, and if you don’t have a dog of your own, I hope you’ll find a way to give back to the animals that have earned their places at our sides, in our homes, and in our hearts.
NEW! Forever Ripley: A deeply personal middle-grade novel by award-winning author McCall Hoyle affirms the powerful and enduring relationship between dogs and humans.
McCall Hoyle is an award-winning author and teacher librarian. She writes heartfelt books for kids of all ages and believes one of the best ways to spread hope is by writing about the special bond between dogs and their humans. When McCall isn’t writing or teaching, you can find her training one of her four-legged friends for agility, obedience, or dock diving in the foothills of the North Georgia Mountains she calls home.
