John Hawkins lives in northern Great Britain with his older brother, Tom, their mother, and their very special dog, Mouse, who can communi cate with both brothers through thoughts. When Tom becomes seriously ill, Mouse can no longer live with the family, but John decides to run away with Mouse to search for his uncle in southern Great Britain. The journey becomes an adventure with stops along the way to stay with strangers, both kind and sinister. Readers interested in learning more about the “Gypsies” who befriend John and Mouse will want to read A History of the Romani People (Kyuchukov & Hancock) listed elsewhere in this book. bal

Originally published by Hodder Children’s Books Great Brit ain, in 2006.

This is the true story of the journey of John Hawkins and his dog, Mouse, from way up north to way down south. Mouse has been John and his brother Tom's dog for life. They got her as a puppy when they were just little themselves, and they very quickly discovered that they could understand everything Mouse said and she could do the same. She was just a person like everyone else--though maybe a bit cleverer than most. You've maybe heard that John "ran away with his pet dog." But the truth about this story is that John and Mouse made the journey to save Tom. It's hard to pinpoint when Tom became truly ill, but when the doctors said they had to send Mouse away for fear of infection, the boys knew they had to do something. Without Mouse, Tom would never recover. The journey began to find a temporary home for Mouse, but once they'd set off, nothing turned out the way they'd planned. From the Hardcover edition.