PARKSIDE VETERINARY CLINIC

A group of teens want to work for their local veterinary clinic in Woolsey’s YA novel.

Whenever someone in Clearview has a pet problem, Parkside Veterinary Clinic is the place to go. Dr. Ben Hughes and his wife, Helen, are excellent veterinarians who get the job done with the assistance of high school interns, such as Matthew, Gina, and Rachael. It’s now summer, however, and it’s time to pick a new batch of kids to help ease the load as the two professionals think about their future: “The best insurance for succession and retirement was to hire a vet with local ties, who wanted to return to the town to take over Parkside.” Although they aren’t able to do that right away, Ben and Helen interview a few likely intern candidates: Megan, the entitled daughter of the friends; Tom Griffith, a quiet computer tech; José Martinez, a smart but unmotivated student; and Claire Todd, whose dream job is to become a vet. Woolsey follows each of these teens in turn, juggling their close third-person perspectives deftly as she traces their paths to working at Parkside. It isn’t until a natural disaster hits the town that the story’s slow pace picks up and all hands are on deck to save Clearview from tragedy. Woolsey, a veterinarian, shows her expertise in her painstaking detail, as when describing the history of colleague Dr. Amy Wang’s past small-animal cases or a horse’s complex intestinal anatomy. Readers interested in becoming vets themselves will appreciate this level of specificity, while the more squeamish may find it less useful. Clearview’s main residents are likewise well sketched out, though lesser characters, such as Amanda (a cartoonishly bad influence on Megan) and Mr. White (Ben’s 90-year-old assistant), are less developed.

A highly informative novel for teens that puts veterinary facts front and center.