CRIME BITERS! It’s a Doggy Dog World

Jimmy Bishop has a story that he doesn’t think anyone will believe, not even his best friend Irwin. Abby, Jimmy’s new dog, is a crime-fighting vampire dog. It’s true.

The other crazy things that happen to Jimmy are just as true.

Jimmy Bishop is obsessed with Stop Police—a TV show about a vampire detective. He has an older sister who teases him, two parents, and a best friend. His life appears to be pretty normal, but trouble seems to follow him.

Jimmy wakes up with a strange blotch on his face just days before school starts. Then his father has a series of job interviews and his parents hire a strange babysitter who tries to feed him fried beets in pea sauce. Then a new girl moves next door. But the most exciting and strangest event of all is when Jimmy brings home Abby, a new dog.

Crime Bitters is full of suspense, humor, and adventure. As Jimmy’s day-to-day life unfolds the reader will be captivated by the realistic characters as well as the illustrations. The story is easy to read, fun, and full of interesting facts. For example: “Fact: There are a lot of great bald people in the world. But unfortunately, none of them are in this book.”

Because Jimmy tells his own story, the reader gets a glimpse of how it feels to be bullied, how even relationships with best friends be full of strife, and how talking to a girl can be the scariest thing of all.  Crime Bitters has a fast-paced plot that will keep younger readers enthralled.

Sexual Content

• None

Violence

• When the babysitter swats Abby on the nose, Abby goes into attack mode.  “She (Abby) crouched down, like you see on one of those nature shows, where the panther suddenly spots the defenseless gazelle . . . Then Abby jumped, right onto Mrs. Cragg’s shoulder.” Jimmy’s mother appears and grabs the dog.
• When a man tries to take Abby, Mrs. Cragg’s tries to stop him. “Then, without another word, Mrs. Cragg suddenly ripped her own hair off her head . . . and wrapped it around Mr. Bratford’s eyes, like a blindfold.”
• When the kids discover that Mr. Bratford is a thief, he chases them. “He pinched my cheek so hard that tears came to my eyes then put one of his pimply hands on Abby and started petting her fur. . . The next thing I knew, Mr. Bratford had picked me up by the shirt and was carrying me over to Mrs. Cragg.”
• Abby attacks Mrs. Bratford, “In one split second, she jumped out of my arms, bared her teeth, leaped onto Mr. Bratford, and clamped her jaws around his neck . . . Mr. Bratford screamed and feel down. Abby clamped harder, and they started rolling around on the ground.”
• Jimmy hits Mr. Bratford in the knees with a cane.

Drugs and Alcohol

• None

Language

• None

Supernatural

• Abby is a “superhero crime-fighting vampire dog” that has fangs.

Spiritual Content

• None