Racing in the Rain: My Life as a Dog

Garth Stein

May 2011 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

Now a family friendly major motion picture from Fox 2000 Studios—featuring Milo Ventimiglia, Amanda Seyfried, and Kevin Costner as the voice of Enzo the dog!

In this young readers’ edition of the New York Times bestselling adult novel The Art of Racing in the Rain, meet one funny mutt—Enzo, the lovable dog who tells this story.

Enzo knows he is different from other dogs. Most dogs love to chase cars, but Enzo longs to race them.

He learns about racing and the world around him by watching TV and by listening to the words of his best friend, Denny, an up-and-coming race car driver, and Denny's daughter, Zoë, his constant companion. Enzo finds that life is just like being on the racetrack—it isn't simply about going fast.

Applying the rules of racing to his world, Enzo takes on his family's challenges and emerges a hero. In the end, Enzo holds in his heart the dream that Denny will go on to be a racing champion with his daughter by his side.

For theirs is an extraordinary friendship—one that reminds us all to celebrate the triumph of the human (and canine) spirit.

Ratings and reviews

This was a quick read with short chapters so you can fit in a quick chapter when you only have a few minutes. The relationship with each character is built in a perfect manner so that you get angry, sad, happy, and burst into tears as though it were a friend. Oh, and I have definitely found myself trying to personify my dog since I stayed reading this!

Rarely do I find a book that I just can't put down. This book broke that mold. GREAT book and the author is a genius in the way he presented it from a dogs view. Having been raised around large dogs my entire life, I now look at them from a whole new perspective.

I have heard about the book "Racing in the Rain" many times already: it has been recommended to me so many times, and yet I have hesitated of buying it at times. But when the time came that I considered this book my only choice, I bought it...and I was surprised that I could learn so much from a dog :) I found myself laughing away, and crying along with Denny and Enzo when troubles came too much for them. I have honestly never had a dog in my life. Not that I was not ready for it, but because I was terribly frightened of them. So, I've always enjoyed looking at the positive perspectives of their owners in dog tales. At times, they would end tragically and sometimes, it would have a happy ending. "Racing in the Rain" made me feel what it was like to have a loyal best friend in life like Enzo. Two thumbs up for this book! One day, when I'm a bit older (I'm eleven!), I'll try buying the young adult version...and I'll also try telling my parents to get me one. Once I do, I'll name my little treasure Enzo.

About the author

Garth Stein is the author of Enzo Races in the Rain!, based on the New York Times bestselling novel The Art of Racing in the Rain (and its tween adaptation, Racing in the Rain). His other works include A Sudden Light, How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets, Raven Stole the Moon, and a play, Brother Jones. He is the cofounder of Seattle7Writers.org, a nonprofit collective of sixty-two Northwest authors dedicated to fostering a passion for the written word. Garth lives in Seattle with his family and his dog, Comet.