The name’s Shamus. I’m a special kind of dog. I’m what’s known as a Rez Dog. That means I’m a mix of different dog breeds and I come from a reserve. As far as I know, I am a mix of German shepherd, husky, and border collie. I was a surprise from Rainey and Cole’s uncle. Mom is still warming up to me, but the twins love having me around.

Life was great — busting out of the yard, chasing Mr. Tibbles around the neighbourhood, snooping through garbage bins — until Mom was accused of stealing from the family-owned jewellery store she’s worked at for years. She couldn’t possibly have done it, so the kids and I set out to catch the real thief with some surprising and, if I do say so myself, hilarious results, including a false wall, a lucky bowling ball, and a vicious poodle named Hepzibah.

– Shamus the urban rez dog’s owner is wrongfully suspected of stealing from the jewellery store she works at and Shamus and her twins, Cole and Rainey, work to clear her name and find the real thief.

– Examines prejudice in a fun and accessible way.

– The story takes place in an urban community with a high population of Indigenous people.

– Leslie Gentile’s debut novel was published to great acclaim in 2021. She won the Jean Little First Novel Award and the City of Victoria Children’s Book Prize and was short-listed for the Forest of Reading Silver Birch Award, the MYRCA Sundogs Award, the SYRCA Diamond Willow Award, the Hackmatack Award, the Rocky Mountain Book Award, the Red Cedar Award, and the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People.

– Leslie Gentile is a dog lover and has owned dogs all her life. She adopted a precious new puppy last year whose name is Sitka.