Through a series of hilarious letters home, Ike tries everything to get released from obedience school. Forget that the Igor Brotweiler Canine Academy is like a spa or a very fancy sleep-away camp, Ike just can't adapt. Not until the madcap climax, involving a daring rescue with tricks learned at school, does Ike work his way back into Mrs. LaRue's good graces and move back home.

Dynamic split-screen visuals contrast the colorful real world of Brotweiler with the black-and-white one in Ike's imagination, which is filled with all the melodramatic horror of a B-movie. Dog lovers, Teague lovers, and humor lovers alike will agree that Dear Mrs. LaRue is Mark's most fetching book to date.

* "A tail-wagger of a book that will have readers howling with amusement."-Publishers Weekly, starred review