A story about small acts of courage from the author of A Crooked Kind of Perfect. Do not let a mop sit overnight in water. Fix things before they ...
read full description
reviews
Dec 21, 2011
katsok
rated it: 
I stare at this blank screen, how to describe this book. Mattie and her mom have moved, again. This time they have moved in with her Uncle Potluck. While her mom seems a bit clueless as to who her daughter is, Uncle Potluck "gets" her. He is the janitor at the local elementary school and Mattie tags along with him while he prepares the building for a new school year. Uncle Potluck seems to one of those adults who has a bit of magic in him. He can spin an amazing story, speak to the moo
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 11, 2011
Kate
rated it:
Linda Urban has a gift for capturing the small things about a kid's life that matter. She understands that little things can mean everything...those tiny moments that the grown-ups shrug off can be something a ten-year-old carries around for years...and maybe forever.
HOUND DOG TRUE features Mattie Breen, a painfully shy girl who moves to a new town with her mom and apprentices herself to her Uncle Potluck, the school custodian, in the hopes that her studies of janitorial arts will all More...
HOUND DOG TRUE features Mattie Breen, a painfully shy girl who moves to a new town with her mom and apprentices herself to her Uncle Potluck, the school custodian, in the hopes that her studies of janitorial arts will all More...
Jan 09, 2012
Chris
rated it: 
Timid is too timid a word to describe shy, fearful Mattie. She is a person who keeps her own counsel, as her Uncle Potluck says. Her first reaction when approached by someone her age near her new home with Uncle Potluck is to sprint back into her house and hide behind a closed door. She'd much rather record her thoughts in her notebook than have to talk to anyone. And right now her thoughts are focused on learning everything about Potluck's job as custodian at her new school so she can convi
More...
Dec 29, 2011
Rachael
rated it:
Linda Urban writes books that I just WISH had been written 25 years ago so I could have had the benefit of reading them when I was a child. Her characters are so genuine and her heroines remind me SO much of myself, especially as a young girl.
Mattie Breen is 10, has moved a lot, and is painfully shy. Initially, I thought the idea of a young girl wanting to apprentice her uncle as a school custodian in order to avoid lunch and recess was a little much, but I do remember how much I w More...
Mattie Breen is 10, has moved a lot, and is painfully shy. Initially, I thought the idea of a young girl wanting to apprentice her uncle as a school custodian in order to avoid lunch and recess was a little much, but I do remember how much I w More...
Dec 03, 2011
Lisa
rated it: 
Mattie Mae is one of those charming, shy, sweet characters who waves up at you timidly from the pages and enchants you. She's awkward and unconfident of herself, eager to please and filled with button twisting angst that she'll never get it quite right or be quite good enough. When Uncle Potluck invites Mattie and her mother to come live with him for awhile, his calm and humorous personality offers the haven that Mattie craves. Can she dare to hope and dream that this time things might just work
More...
Nov 03, 2011
Bethany
rated it:
Mattie never knows what to say, so she tries not to say anything at all. That's not so easy when you move a lot, and when every new teacher makes you stand up in front of the blackboard and introduce yourself. Once, Mattie was so nervous that she introduced herself as "Not a Buddhist." This time is a little better though; the school year hasn't started yet, and Mattie and her mother have moved in with Mattie's Uncle Potluck, the school custodian, and for the entire week before schoo
More...
Oct 30, 2011
Barbara
rated it:
Once again, Mattie Breen and her mother have moved, and as a new school year approaches, Mattie dreads having to be the new girl in class once again. In order to avoid another painful introduction or try to find somewhere to eat during lunch, she has been following her Uncle Potluck around the school as he practices what he calls the Custodial Arts. She figures she'll just hang out with him or help him out. Mattie is quiet and shy, and prone to writing down her thoughts and creating stories in a
More...
Oct 19, 2011
School Library Journal (October 1, 2011)
Gr 4-6-Mattie Breen is a self-conscious and sensitive child about to begin fifth grade in her fifth school. This time, she and her mother are back in her mother's girlhood home with Uncle Potluck, the "Director of Custodial Arts" at the school Mattie is slated to attend. She dreads the prospect of recesses and lunch times-any times where she might find herself in unpredictable social situations-so she devises a plan to become her uncle's inv More...
Gr 4-6-Mattie Breen is a self-conscious and sensitive child about to begin fifth grade in her fifth school. This time, she and her mother are back in her mother's girlhood home with Uncle Potluck, the "Director of Custodial Arts" at the school Mattie is slated to attend. She dreads the prospect of recesses and lunch times-any times where she might find herself in unpredictable social situations-so she devises a plan to become her uncle's inv More...
Oct 02, 2011
Grier
rated it:
"Uncle Potluck said when he talked to the moon, the moon talked back."
—Hound Dog True
Some books are so darn delicious, there’s no joy in picking them apart to see what makes them tick. Hound Dog True, by Linda Urban, is one such gem. The voice, characterization, theme and gentle rhythm of words create a symphony of fine storytelling that elevate this simple story to another level. Yes. It’s that good. Hound Dog True had me at the first sentence and held me in its enchant More...
—Hound Dog True
Some books are so darn delicious, there’s no joy in picking them apart to see what makes them tick. Hound Dog True, by Linda Urban, is one such gem. The voice, characterization, theme and gentle rhythm of words create a symphony of fine storytelling that elevate this simple story to another level. Yes. It’s that good. Hound Dog True had me at the first sentence and held me in its enchant More...
Sep 22, 2011
Nicole
rated it:
When Mattie is introduced to new people – which is often because she and her mother are always moving – she might be considered shy or even stuck up. She looks down and talks softly, if at all. After all, saying the right thing – the clever thing – is not easy. And Mattie knows that one word, one incorrect word, can be devastating.
Mattie is happy about the latest move. She and her mother will live with her Uncle Potluck while he recovers from an impending knee surgery. Mattie will be More...
Mattie is happy about the latest move. She and her mother will live with her Uncle Potluck while he recovers from an impending knee surgery. Mattie will be More...
Mar 16, 2011
Alison
rated it:
The extremely shy Mattie and her mother have moved in with Mattie’s Uncle Potluck, who is a custodian at the school Mattie will be attending at the end of summer (one week away). When Uncle Potluck takes her with him to help prepare for the school’s reopening, Mattie begins writing down everything Potluck says about custodial work. Having been bullied at her previous school, she’s afraid of having to mingle with her fellow fifth graders. Mattie believes that if she can convince Uncle Potluck to
More...
Dec 15, 2011
Michael
rated it:
Such depth through such economy; not a single word is wasted or misplaced in this wonderful novel. I started it with a plan to read a few chapters and then go to sleep, and two hours later, I find myself not only having finished the whole book, but compelled to write about it lest it keep me up all night.
This is a small story about huge things. It spans not much time, and certainly not flashy in its plot or incident. But in Mattie, the protagonist, we witness such a stirring and true b More...
This is a small story about huge things. It spans not much time, and certainly not flashy in its plot or incident. But in Mattie, the protagonist, we witness such a stirring and true b More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jul 02, 2011
Claire
rated it:
Linda Urban has followed A Crooked Kind Of Perfect with a sweet story. Mattie and her mom are living with Uncle Potluck. Mattie has lived many, many places- Mom says, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Right Mattie?" In Mattie's heart of hearts she knows, she is Not Tough. She is thrilled to live at Uncle Potluck's house and is waiting on pins and needles for things to get tough.
This story is a couple of weeks before school starts when Mattie is helping Potluck with More...
This story is a couple of weeks before school starts when Mattie is helping Potluck with More...
Aug 04, 2011
Doret
rated it:
Mattie Breen and her mother have just moved again. They will be living in the mother's childhood home with Uncle Potluck. When the summer ends in a week Mattie will be starting at a another new school. After what happened at the last one Mattie isn't looking forward to it.
Mattie has been helping Uncle Potlock with his janitorial duties, at her soon to be school. Mitchell P Anderson Elementary. Mattie comes up with the perfect plan to avoid other students. She will become a cus More...
Mattie has been helping Uncle Potlock with his janitorial duties, at her soon to be school. Mitchell P Anderson Elementary. Mattie comes up with the perfect plan to avoid other students. She will become a cus More...
Nov 28, 2011
Sarah-Greenbeanteenqueen
rated it:
About the Book: Mattie and her mom have moved too many times for Mattie's liking. Mattie hoping that this time moving in with Uncle Potluck will last-no more being the new girl. Mattie has a week until school starts which means one week to convince Uncle Potluck to take her on as a custodial apprentice. If Mattie writes everything down in her notebook and can convince Uncle Potluck he needs her, she can work with him at recess-away from the other fifth-graders. But what will happen when Mattie's
More...
Dec 09, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it: 
I thought this book was weird, but can't really put my finger on why I didn't like it more. A shy girl and her mother move back to her mother's hometown, where they live with two uncles -- one of them I kept forgetting about because he's hardly ever in the story, and the other one who is a custodian at the school the girl will attend in the fall.
All the elements are pleasant enough, but they come together in strange ways. I know shy kids learning how to make friends is a common the More...
All the elements are pleasant enough, but they come together in strange ways. I know shy kids learning how to make friends is a common the More...
Jan 09, 2012
JeNeal
rated it:
This story goes right to the heart and as you learn more and more about this notebook-keeping young girl lost and her mother with piccolo fingers, it is such a ray of hope to see the support system that is there, particularly in Uncle Potluck, who is one of the most charming characters I've met in a book in a long time. His stories give wonderful insight and depth to the plotline and he is the focal point for all the small acts of bravery that other characters are able to try and succeed at. Th
More...
Dec 05, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
Mattie Breen's used to moving and leaving things behind. Her mom doesn't like owning more than can fit comfortably inside a pickup truck. At least this time the two of them are moving to a place where there's someone she likes-her Uncle Potluck.
Uncle Potluck is the custodian at the school where Mattie will soon be starting fifth grade. She's hoping he'll help her out with her plan. Mattie wants to be a custodial apprentice. Then she won't have to deal with lunch or recess. She won't More...
Uncle Potluck is the custodian at the school where Mattie will soon be starting fifth grade. She's hoping he'll help her out with her plan. Mattie wants to be a custodial apprentice. Then she won't have to deal with lunch or recess. She won't More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 26, 2012
Anna
rated it:
I was a huge fan of A Crooked Kind of Perfect and Urban's second chapter book did not disappoint. Mattie is painfully shy, something not helped by her mother's constant itch to move to a new place. The latest move has her living with her Uncle Potluck, the custodian of her new school. Mattie spends the few days before the start of school assisting him, hoping that she can be his official Custodial Apprentice so that she can spend recesses and lunches with him, instead of facing the unknown faces
More...
Jul 28, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it:
There’s identifying with a work of children’s fiction and then there’s wondering if the author of the work has somehow discovered time travel and was able to observe your younger self. Such were my feelings upon picking up and reading Hound Dog True, the lastest from A Crooked Kind of Perfect’s Linda Urban. I don’t want to cast aspersions on Ms. Urban, and if she wants to use her highly developed time travel technology to spy upon my elementary years that is her business. Of course I appreciat
More...
Sep 15, 2011
Kirby
rated it:
What I love most about a Linda Urban book is the white space she leaves for me as a reader to enmesh myself in a story. She has really mastered that urge to explain many of us suffer from. I loved Mattie from the get-go and having suffered as the new kid myself almost every year of my growing up, I could definitely relate to her plan to avoid lunches and recess by earning the right to be her Uncle Potluck's custodial apprentice.
Linda notices the small things that make a huge differe More...
Linda notices the small things that make a huge differe More...
Jul 27, 2011
Snorkle
rated it:
I loved the beginning of this story. The smooth and slow style of the narration felt like books I had read before and loved. I didn't care for the rest of the story though. It was like something was missing, or that the book wasn't going deep enough. I felt like the story only skimmed the surface of Mattie's emotions and depth. I wanted more, but the story just ended after giving the reader a quick taste.
It was really short. I think I read the entire book in 45 minutes. The characters More...
It was really short. I think I read the entire book in 45 minutes. The characters More...
Jan 06, 2012
Phoebe
rated it:
A brief book with plenty going on, this sweet story about a little girl whose unstable life with her mother has caused some serious anxiety issues for her may bore some children and interest others. Mattie is a strange child but appeals because we get to see her thought processes as she is slowly drawn out of paralyzing shyness and fear into making friends and taking some chances. She is a writer and writes everything down in her notebook, including how to do the various jobs her custodian unc
More...
Dec 15, 2011
Donalyn
rated it:
This beautifully written, simple book describes one girl's journey to overcome her shyness and make a friend.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Oct 13, 2011
Shelley
rated it:
Shy, anxious Mattie is used to moving around a lot, thanks to her mother, but she's happy about this new move because it means living with her favorite uncle. She's determined that this time, it doesn't matter that she'll never fit in, because her place to belong is as her uncle's custodial assistant. I'm not sure what left me colder on this book than everyone else, but I did think the characters were well drawn and real. I liked her uncle a lot, and I liked how the subplots were written as Matt
More...
Aug 25, 2011
Karen
rated it:
“”Mattie Mae,” Uncle Potluck says. “I have a mind to declare you too talented for this here school and take you on as an apprentice.” And it feels like Uncle Potluck has drawn a fat white belonging-line around her.” - from Hound Dog True
As soon as she hears Uncle Potluck’s words, thrown out all casual-like, Mattie Breen knows what she has to do. She’ll be starting fifth grade at Mitchell P. Anderson Elementary School next week (her fourth ever school) - there’s not getting around More...
Jan 08, 2012
Karen
rated it:
Mattie breen is shy and still suffers from a bullying incident in fourth grade when another girl read her notebook of stories and made fun of her. On top of all that, Mattie and her mom have moved four times. Now Mattie is entering fifth grade and has a plan to avoid having to make friends- become the custodial assistant to her Uncle Potluck. This is a heart breaking story that has such a hopeful ending. Mattie's worries are so eloquently revealed through her writing. Her Uncle helps Mattie'
More...
Jan 19, 2012
Angela
rated it:
I love Linda Urban. A Crooked Kind of Perfect is such a gem of a book, and Hound Dog True is not far behind. The plot is good but not unique - girl can't make friends because her mother moves them every time the "going gets tough". But the writing is so, so good. Urban doesn't write down to kids. In fact, there's subtlety in story that she trusts kids will pick up on. I'd hand her books to every fifth grade girl coming out of the nearby elementary school if I could afford it.
More...
Jun 12, 2011
Librarian
rated it:
Mattie, who has moved a million times before, moves to town with her mom and latches on to her funny and understanding Uncle Potluck, the custodian at her elementary school. She decides that she wants to be a custodial apprentice, and writes down all the pieces of wisdom that Uncle Potluck doles out.
The thing that struck me the most was that Mattie lives in a working class world that doesn't get a lot of play in novels like this. All of the adults in Mattie's life don't have it easy, More...
The thing that struck me the most was that Mattie lives in a working class world that doesn't get a lot of play in novels like this. All of the adults in Mattie's life don't have it easy, More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 18, 2011
Erin
rated it:
I loved the voice of the shy girl at the center of this story. Having moved a number of times for her mom's work, Mattie is excited to live with her uncle, a friendly, outgoing custodian at the local school she'll be starting in 3 weeks. Since she's helping her uncle at the school before school begins, she decides she'll keep a custodian assistant notebook so that her uncle will take her as an assistant when school begins so she doesn't have to try to make friends. Sweet story about families and
More...
