Mega-Dogs of New Kansas

The story of a girl and her dog—in space.

Sienna Barlow loves nothing more than riding around New Kansas on top of her mega-dog, Gus. He's one of the massive pooches protecting the human settlers of a strange planet. In fact, Sienna connects better with Gus than with other kids. So when a visiting official threatens to shut down the mega-dog program, Sienna sneaks off with her best friend. After she, Gus, and a stowaway crash their escape ship, they discover a danger to every human in their community—and launch a wild plan to save New Kansas.

“"Nearly 300 years in the future, Sienna Barlow lives on New Kansas, where gigantic canines known as mega-dogs are bred to protect Earthlings who have settled on the planet. Sienna, whose parents breed and train the canines, loves to explore with her dog, Gus, but her anxiety makes her clam up around other kids. Kevin, a new kid who thinks she's stuck-up, plays a prank on her and Gus during Vice President Hale's visit. (The political reasoning for his visit is a bit convoluted, especially for the intended age group.) Kevin drops a diamond ant onto Gus, which makes him itch uncontrollably, but when Gus accidentally wreaks havoc, the vice president is turned against the entire mega-dog program and Gus is locked up. To prevent him from being put down, Sienna busts him out, and the two of them run off in a spaceship--with Kevin as their stowaway. Together, they brave the wilds of New Kansas and uncover valuable information regarding the outpost's new power plant. Khouri's expressive artwork features a muted palette reminiscent of vintage space comics. Sienna is tan-skinned with black hair, while Kevin is light-skinned and blond; characters throughout appear to be diverse. While the story is scattershot and the thread about Sienna's anxiety is dropped once she and Kevin have to work together, there's enough adventure to keep readers turning pages. VERDICT This space age graphic ”

"[An] adventure to keep readers turning pages. . . . dog fans will be pleased."—School Library Journal

Dan Jolley began writing professionally at the age of 19. Since starting out in comic books, he has worked for DC (Firestorm), Marvel (Dr. Strange), Dark Horse (Aliens), and Image (G.I. Joe). He later branched out into licensed-property novels (Star Trek), film novelizations (Iron Man), and original novels, including the urban fantasy series Five Elements and the Audible Original House of Teeth. Working with Erin Hunter, he has scripted the manga stories set in the Warriors universe. Dan lives with his wife Tracy and a handful of largely inert felines in northwest Georgia. Readers can learn more about him at Jacques Khouri makes animated films, works on commercials, teaches, and draws comics for a living. His influences range from animated cartoons to European and American comics. He currently lives in Montreal. You can find his work at ijotalot.com and jackkhouri.com. Please follow him on Tumblr or Instagram at @ijotalot.

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