Forever Ripley

Told from the per­spec­tive of an old Ger­man Shep­herd dog, this deeply per­son­al mid­dle-grade sto­ry affirms the pow­er­ful and endur­ing rela­tion­ship between dogs and humans.

Rip­ley has been trained to pro­tect ever since she was a pup. As a Ger­man Shep­herd dog, she helped pro­tect the wildlife refuge with Max, the best man Rip­ley has ever known. But that was before the acci­dent. Before the pain of Max leav­ing. And before his last words: “Take care of the girls, Ripley.”

Rip­ley adores her girls, espe­cial­ly Char­lie, more than any­thing, even peanut but­ter. But Rip­ley has been feel­ing the aches and pains that come with old age, and she knows her sea­sons are end­ing. Dogs do not have forever.

When the vet­eri­nar­i­an con­firms Ripley’s days are num­bered, Char­lie cre­ates a buck­et list to cel­e­brate Ripley’s life, with ice cream in Nags Head, fried chick­en from the Gold­en Skil­let, and sand­piper chas­ing at the beach. In car­ry­ing out the buck­et list, Rip­ley learns that though she can’t con­tin­ue to pro­tect her flock, she can love them into inde­pen­dence so Char­lie can take care of her­self, even in the face of bul­lies and tres­passers who are threat­en­ing the wildlife refuge. And if Rip­ley can keep her promise, she just might be ready to leave her sec­ond great love, Char­lie, to return to her first, Max.

Sun­shine State Young Read­ers Award, 2026–2027, Ele­men­tary School, Grades 3–5