By Sylvia McNicoll

What the Dog Knows

Naomi’s dog Diesel returns from the afterlife with one mission. Naomi can hear his thoughts. Can he save her?

It’s Naomi’s worst summer ever. Her dog, Diesel, died. Dad lost his job. Mom and Dad split up. The family is broke, and Naomi is stuck babysitting when she planned to take swimming lessons.

Then her sometime-friend Morgan convinces her to jump off a dock. On July 1, at precisely 4:30, when Naomi drowns, destiny shifts.

Naomi awakes a week earlier to Diesel talking to her. Through his canine counsel, he wants to show her how to fix things. “I can save you,” he barks. But no matter how often Naomi resets her watch, the time and date keep flipping back to July 1, 4:30 which makes her wonder: is her time running out?

Can one dog change fate?

It’s the hottest, worst month in Naomi’s 12 years of life. Dad’s lost his job, Mom kicked him out and then Diesel, her dog is run over by a Smart Car. But when Naomi dives off a dock and hits her head on a rock, she wakes up six days earlier to a whole new chance at life, one where Diesel is back offering such sage advice as “with more members in our pack we can bring down a moose,” and where her nemesis, 14 year-old Morgan, wants to be her bestie and help her get in with the cool girls of high school. Six days till Naomi visits her destiny again. Can Naomi learn to swim and keep Diesel out of the street? Is it possible to bring Mom and Dad together again? Does the high school hottie Simon really like her?  Or is it all a hallucination? But if it is, why is her watch stopped at the exact time that she drowned in that previous lifetime. Diesel knows why and will share what he knows only after they are both safe.