Trina Ryan Novels
Seven
Days to Goodbye
A
Trina Ryan Novel #1
by
Sheri Levy
Genre:
YA Coming of Age Fiction
After
Trina’s beloved dog dies, she swears she’ll never get another
one. But then she learns about service dogs, and realizes that if she
becomes a puppy raiser, she could train puppy after puppy and never
worry about them dying. But like all great ideas, this one has a
serious flaw: her first service puppy must be returned to his kennel
at the end of their week-long summer vacation. And saying goodbye to
Sydney is going to be much tougher than she ever imagined.
Trina’s
last week with Sydney is made that much harder by her newly strained
friendship with her best friend, Sarah, who’s become so
over-the-top boy crazy that she’s almost like a stranger. Sarah is
determined to have them hang out with every boy at the beach, but
when a boy named Chase takes an interest in Sydney and Trina, it puts
an even bigger strain on the friendship.
It’s
hard enough to deal with losing Sydney, but now she may lose her best
friend, too. And even if she manages to patch things up with
Sarah—and figures out what to do about Chase—she still must face
a daunting decision: is she strong enough to take on another service
puppy?
“Author
Sheri S. Levy deftly taps adolescent themes of love, loss and
friendship through the added lens of a service dog’s life-changing
effects on her young trainer. A fresh twist on the familiar
coming-of-age tale. Well done!” — Jennifer Leeper, author, Padre:
The Narrowing Path
“Trina’s
foray into the world of boys, friendship, and fashion while focusing
on the important task of training service dogs strikes just the right
balance. This canine-inspired coming-of-age tale is a poignant but
fun summertime story.” — Val Muller, author, the Corgi Capers
series and The Scarred Letter
Starting
Over
A
Trina Ryan Novel #2
Trina
Ryan’s challenging summer starts off with a puppy-fueled energy
burst as she takes on another service dog for training—an
eight-week-old black Labrador named Colton. And to help explore
another dream, she’s taken a job at the barn next door in exchange
for riding lessons with the barn’s schooling horse. Before long,
Trina butts heads with Morgan Hart, an ill-tempered but skilled rider
with a gorgeous thoroughbred named Knight.
Adding to the list of frustrations is the difficulty in maintaining a long-distance relationship with Chase, her first boyfriend from last summer, while trying to deal with unwanted attention from a new boy in her puppy training class. At least best friend Sarah still has her back, but as Trina wearies of Morgan’s constant insults and her heartless treatment of Knight, she decides to use her dog training skills to look underneath Morgan’s hostile attitude and develop a sense of trust.
Slowly, Morgan’s angry shield cracks enough to where she’s able to share a troubling family secret. Can Trina help Morgan confront her family problems and make a fresh start?
“Levy is on sure ground in this enjoyable page-turner for young adults. Readers see the world through the eyes of Trina Ryan, a freckle-faced redhead with a big heart for horses, service dogs, and people in need. Trina learns some of life’s most important lessons: that people are not always what they seem, growing up involves tough choices, and a first crush can be more exciting than she ever dreamed. Poignant, fun, and adventuresome.” — Peggy Jo Shaw, award-winning journalist, PR specialist, and book author/editor
“Starting Over is a book you’ll want to give your daughter. A story about best friends, boyfriends, enemies, and how to handle them all. Throw in horses and puppies, and you have the perfect mix for an entertaining, self-evolving read.” — C. Hope Clark, author, Carolina Slade Mysteries and Edisto Island Mysteries
“How do you help a friend and stay true to yourself? Trina Ryan’s struggles to cope and regroup should ring true for teens. Most people probably never dream so much is involved. Teens who love to read about animals should truly enjoy Starting Over.” — Lisa Williams Kline, author, Eleanor Hill, Princesses of Atlantis, Write Before Your Eyes, and the Sisters in All Seasons series
“There’s a lot going on in Trina’s life, but Levy weaves each thread seamlessly. I especially enjoyed the detail about how to train a service dog, as well as her experience in the barn mucking out stalls, caring for the horses, and learning to ride. A must-read YA novel for anyone who loves dogs and horses.” — Judy Sheluk, author, The Hanged Man’s Noose and Skeletons in the Attic
“Dogs! Horses! Boys! What could be better? An energetic puppy learning to be a service dog, a sweet-tempered horse, an absentee boyfriend, and Trina, the girl who has to make some difficult decisions about all of them. A lovely, thoughtful coming-of-age novel.” — Ellyn Bache, author, Kaleidoscope, The Art of Saying Goodbye, and Safe Passage
Adding to the list of frustrations is the difficulty in maintaining a long-distance relationship with Chase, her first boyfriend from last summer, while trying to deal with unwanted attention from a new boy in her puppy training class. At least best friend Sarah still has her back, but as Trina wearies of Morgan’s constant insults and her heartless treatment of Knight, she decides to use her dog training skills to look underneath Morgan’s hostile attitude and develop a sense of trust.
Slowly, Morgan’s angry shield cracks enough to where she’s able to share a troubling family secret. Can Trina help Morgan confront her family problems and make a fresh start?
“Levy is on sure ground in this enjoyable page-turner for young adults. Readers see the world through the eyes of Trina Ryan, a freckle-faced redhead with a big heart for horses, service dogs, and people in need. Trina learns some of life’s most important lessons: that people are not always what they seem, growing up involves tough choices, and a first crush can be more exciting than she ever dreamed. Poignant, fun, and adventuresome.” — Peggy Jo Shaw, award-winning journalist, PR specialist, and book author/editor
“Starting Over is a book you’ll want to give your daughter. A story about best friends, boyfriends, enemies, and how to handle them all. Throw in horses and puppies, and you have the perfect mix for an entertaining, self-evolving read.” — C. Hope Clark, author, Carolina Slade Mysteries and Edisto Island Mysteries
“How do you help a friend and stay true to yourself? Trina Ryan’s struggles to cope and regroup should ring true for teens. Most people probably never dream so much is involved. Teens who love to read about animals should truly enjoy Starting Over.” — Lisa Williams Kline, author, Eleanor Hill, Princesses of Atlantis, Write Before Your Eyes, and the Sisters in All Seasons series
“There’s a lot going on in Trina’s life, but Levy weaves each thread seamlessly. I especially enjoyed the detail about how to train a service dog, as well as her experience in the barn mucking out stalls, caring for the horses, and learning to ride. A must-read YA novel for anyone who loves dogs and horses.” — Judy Sheluk, author, The Hanged Man’s Noose and Skeletons in the Attic
“Dogs! Horses! Boys! What could be better? An energetic puppy learning to be a service dog, a sweet-tempered horse, an absentee boyfriend, and Trina, the girl who has to make some difficult decisions about all of them. A lovely, thoughtful coming-of-age novel.” — Ellyn Bache, author, Kaleidoscope, The Art of Saying Goodbye, and Safe Passage
A friend of mine had learned,
Club House Magazine wanted an article on the benefits of young person having a
service dog and contacted me. I had already interviewed Hayden and had written
my story. I connected with Club House Magazine and, ‘Scent with Love,’ was
published, July, 2010.
For the first time, I entered
‘Scent with Love,’ into The Dog Writers of America Association. And it won!
Hayden and I received trophies and I received
a cash prize. This gave me confidence to continue writing and I explored the
idea of using a service dog in my novel.
I had reached out to Hayden’s
organization for more information and found they had disbanded. Unfortunately,
four years later, Hayden could no longer attend school with his dog as a
companion. The lucky dog had been rescued from a shelter but never had x-rays
to see about his hips. This forced me do more research on service dogs and
their organizations.
.
How did you get involved with PAALS, (Palmetto Animal Assisted
Living Services)?
Needing more information
before I wrote my novel, I called all around the U.S to talk with people
involved with service dog organizations. One day I found PAALS. I spoke with
the founder, Mrs. Jennifer Rogers, and learned her organization was an hour and
a half from where I lived.
I began driving down to watch
and took notes on how they trained teens and adults to be Puppy Raisers. After
these trainers qualified, the puppies were able to be trained in their homes. I
kept notes on the training they used for autism, mobility and PTSD, and
interviewed one young puppy raiser. She became my inspiration for my story and
main character, Trina Ryan.
The founder of PAALS, Jennifer
Rogers, and Mitzie Renick, Developing Coordinator, have helped me use the
correct information in my stories.
After seeing the life changing
effects of a service dog, I was hooked. It has been a thrill to be involved
with a reputable organization and be able to share the dangers of incompetent
organizations.
Since PAALS have many puppies,
they use a men’s correctional institution to help train some of the puppies
Monday through Friday. The puppies go to foster homes over the weekend for
socialization. This has been a wonderful chain reaction for the men. A few men
have been paroled and have earned a Department of Labor Certificate; an
Apprentice Certificate, giving them the opportunity to gain jobs training dogs
with PAALS. See www.PAALS.org. for more
information.
Through donations, PAALS has
grown this organization into an amazing program. A few weeks ago, I attended
their biggest fund raiser. I watched in awe as hundreds of supporters donated
thousands of dollars. Trained service dogs are given freely to military
persons, people working in service jobs, and to other clients with the above
issues.
Mrs. Jennifer Rogers has the only ADI
accredited program based in South Carolina. She has created a remarkable
platform.
.
Sheri,
a California gal, moved to Greenville, SC, & taught special
education. Her goal was to instill the love of books. When Sheri
retired, her students had created a desire for her to write. She
joined SCBWI, & Dog Writers Association. After years of enjoying
Edisto Beach with her Aussie and Black Lab, it became the setting for
her first YA novel, Seven Days to Goodbye.
Seven Days to Goodbye involves a service dog connecting with a child with autism, girls learning about the importance of friendships and trying to keep theirs intact while flirting with guys for the first time. A loggerhead turtle helps bring the girls together. The story has humor and plenty of puppy love in both varieties. The second book in the series will be, Starting Over.
Seven Days to Goodbye involves a service dog connecting with a child with autism, girls learning about the importance of friendships and trying to keep theirs intact while flirting with guys for the first time. A loggerhead turtle helps bring the girls together. The story has humor and plenty of puppy love in both varieties. The second book in the series will be, Starting Over.
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