Author Interviews
Rescuing Crash, the Good Dog – A Chat with Sue Harrison
Sue Harrison’s Rescuing Crash, the Good Dog is a novel for middle-grade readers. The book engages young readers with a heartwarming story of dog adoption from a local shelter. Crash, the eponymous Australian shepherd, is brought home to 11-year-old Britta by her single Dad as a birthday gift. As Crash becomes a member of the family, adventures and healing go hand in hand for Britta and her new friend. – NewsBlaze
RTS presents its Q&A with Sue Harrison about her writing journey that led to this latest novel.
How many books for young adults have you published besides this new novel?
My first novel, Mother Earth Father Sky, published in the United States in 1990 by Doubleday, was written for an adult audience but was selected by The American Library Association as a 1991 Best Books for Young Adults. Mother Earth Father Sky is set in the Aleutian Islands during prehistoric times and is about a young woman who survives the massacre of her people and how she ultimately avenges the deaths of those she loved. It is a book designed to uplift young Native women in an environment that denigrates the value of women. It was an international bestseller.
My first chapter book for ages 9-12 was Sisu, published in 1997 by Thunder Bay Press. Sisu is about a boy, diagnosed with juvenile onset diabetes, and his struggles as he deals with a chronic disease. It’s an upbeat positive book designed to help pre-teens face difficult situations. It was selected as a National Advanced Readers Book.
Is this your first book featuring a pet rescue story? If so, did any real life experiences inspire the idea? Are any characters modeled on real life people/animals?
Yes, this is my first book featuring a pet rescue story. My parents rescued animals—sometimes injured wild animals that they would release back into the wild after recovery. They instilled in me and my four siblings the joy of nurturing, and all of us continue to do what we can for animals now in our adult lives. My characters are always an amalgam of interesting and amazing people in my life. In Rescuing Crash, the Good Dog, the animals are also characters, and their personalities are based on the delightful quirks and behaviors of animals that have enriched my life.
Is the story a call for compassion toward shelter animals? And is this something you have conveyed in any previous novels?
Yes, Rescuing Crash, the Good Dog is a strong call for compassion toward shelter animals and any animal that needs a loving and safe home. Many people adopted animals during the confinement years of the COVID epidemic. When they were able to resume their lives, employed again outside the home, many had to surrender their pets to shelters. This has been a heartbreak time for both former owners and the animals. Shelters across the nation are overflowing with animals in need of homes. Even if people are unable to adopt, they can volunteer time to help local shelters and/or donate supplies and money to help shelters maintain their services. Rescuing Crash, the Good Dog is my first novel specifically about rescuing animals, and a portion of my proceeds will be donated to our local shelter.
How have your own pet animals added to your creative potential or expression as a writer?
During my career as a writer, I have always had “office assistants,” including dogs, cats, a hamster (our daughter’s), and orphaned raccoons. They offer me the joy of their snuggles and enthusiasm and always remind me when it’s time for a break! Like people, animals have distinct personalities, and their antics gave me ample material to fill out the personalities of Crash, Harold, and Henry, the three animal main characters in Rescuing Crash, the Good Dog.
Do you think the public or private education/school system does a good job in teaching the healing potential of animals to kids?
It has been my privilege to be a part of a family and also marry into a family blessed with many who chose education as their life vocations. My father taught agriculture in the small high school I attended. Every summer he visited farms to help his students with their animals and farm projects. I remember him advising students about kind treatment of their farm animals. I think you will find teachers, administrators, and school employees in almost every school who encourage students to appreciate animals. At the end of Rescuing Crash, the Good Dog, readers will find discussion questions that I hope will offer upper elementary teachers an opportunity to engage their students in conversations about the healing potential of animals and the joy of owning a pet.
What are a few key features in this book that carry the Upper Peninsula/Michigan flair?
Rescuing Crash, the Good Dog is set in Sault Ste. Marie, which is located on the St. Mary’s River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Many of the locations mentioned in the book, some of the stores, and the animal shelter do exist. The main (human) character, Britta Kent, lives in a house on the St. Mary’s, and she looks forward to seeing the lake freighters that pass, especially the one on which her uncle works. The book makes brief mention of deer, abundant throughout Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula. A more subtle inclusion in the book is the freedom Britta and her friends have as far as walking to locations and meeting one another. “The Soo” (local nickname for the town) is a safe place in most regards, as are other towns in the U.P. Britta’s best friend, Lucee Black Hawk, and her parents are members of the local Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians, and the boy Britta has a crush on, Jimmy Vaara, is Sami (Northern Finland indigenous people). The Sami and Native Americans are two of the most populous minorities in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
To see more of her work, visit Sue Harrison online at https://sueharrison.com/.
