1. Student Reviewer’s Name: Emily V
2. Date of review of book: February 25, 2008
3. Complete Book Title: Hachiko Waits
4. Author of Book: Leslea Newman
5. Year the book was published: 2004
6. Genre: partly fiction
7. Student rating of the book (1 the highest, 5 the lowest): 1

8. Main conflict in the book: A loyal dog, Hachiko and his owner, Professor Eizaburo Ueno live in Japan. Every morning they go to the train station. The normal schedule is Hachiko runs to his house and stays there. Then three minutes before three ‘o’clock Hachiko arrives and waits for Professor Ueno to get off the train. But one day Hachiko arrives and Professor Ueno doesn’t show up. And ever since this has happened Yasuo has taken care of Hachiko. Hachiko waits there everyday until he dies.

9. Setting of the book: (place and time)
The main setting of this book is in Japan and the Shibuya train station where Hachiko waits for the Professor.

10. Main Characters and part they play in the book:
(1) Hachiko
(2) Professor Ueno

11. Are the characters believable and interesting?
Hachiko is very believable and interesting. First of all he is a dog and dogs are living mammals. Second of all he is very interesting and you can describe him easily. One of Hachiko’s favorite foods is yakatori. Hachiko is a loyal dog and very kind. In fact his name means eight and the professor’s lucky number is eight. Hachiko is also very understanding, patient, and a gentle dog especially with kids. Now on the other hand, Professor Eizaburo Ueno is a fictional character in the book Hachiko Waits. He is an intelligent man that loves the season when the cherry blossoms bloom. He loves to talk about his dog and talk about the breed Akita. He is the type of person that loves to study and spend time with his trusting dog Hachiko. The thing Professor Ueno also likes to do is train his beloved dog.

12. One excellent direct quotation from the book: (include who said it, page number, and
quotation marks!)
“We will be waiting for you,” said Mr.Yoshikawa. “What is your dogs name?” “Hachi”
said Professor Ueno. “ Hachi? Why did you name him eight?” asked Yoshikawa. “Eight is my lucky number,” answered Professor Ueno. {Pg.18}

13. Good reasons to read the book: If you adore dogs then you should read Hachiko Waits. Another good reason to read this book is because you may never put it down. Also if you want to read about a loyal trusting dog that waits at the train station everyday for his owner to come then get the book Hachiko Waits. If you are Japanese there are many words you can understand in this book. I recommend that you read this book that is descriptive and interesting at the same time.

14. Any reasons not to read the book?
If you dislike animals then I prefer you read a different book. If you are sensitive then choose a different book because this book has some sad parts but it is also ha s some happy parts. Also not al the characters are real in this story but this book is based on a true story. And if you don’t like fiction books with interesting characters then don’t read Hachiko Waits.

Did you like this book or not? And why….
I liked this book. I recommend this book to dog lovers and animal lovers. It was an outstanding story and I couldn’t put the book down. I loved how this boy cared so much for Hachiko especially when Hachiko died. Overall I think that this book is a touching story and amazing how one dog is very intelligent.