Stay: The Last Dog in Antarctica (Jesse Blackadder, ABC Books)

Stay is a fibreglass golden labrador with a slot in her head. Her job is to sit in front of a shopping centre in Hobart and collect donations for the Guide Dogs Association. One day she’s kidnapped from her post and taken aboard the Aurora Australis to Antarctica. Based on a true story, this odd, whimsical tale from Jesse Blackadder charts the (mis)adventures of an inanimate object. Stay witnesses snow petrels, seals and whales; she rides on helicopters and sledges and has multiple sea voyages. The title of this book refers to the fact that in 1991 huskies were deported from Antarctic bases under a new protocol that required all non-native creatures to be removed for environmental reasons. Stay therefore became something of a mascot and a substitute pet, and was passed on or stolen from one expeditioner to the next. However, though the tale itself is interesting, the decision to write it from the perspective of an inanimate dog is problematic. Stay can understand human and dog language, can telepathically communicate by staring into someone’s eyes, and has the feelings and desires of a real dog. It doesn’t quite work. Stay is suitable for eight- to 12-year-olds.

Thuy On is a Melbourne-based reviewer and the books editor of the Big Issue

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Category: Reviews