Finding Caleb: Search and Rescue Dog Series: 1

Being invisible is easy. Being truly found is another thing entirely.

Sixteen-year-old Caleb has perfected the art of going unnoticed. New to a Massachusetts school full of overachievers and Ivy League hopefuls, he is perfectly happy to stay that way. Then a three-minute class presentation goes sideways, and suddenly the boy from out west has everyone's full attention.

The story that spills out of him is not the kind you forget. A nine-year-old, a grocery bag full of bad ideas, and three nights alone in the Wyoming wilderness. No map, no plan, and very little chance of making it out. Just one boy deciding, somewhere between the ridgelines and the stars, that he wanted to live.

But what keeps the class leaning forward is not the survival. It is who found him. A golden retriever with muddy paws and a nose that worked better than any map ever could.

What follows is a story told in two directions at once. A boy learning how to be lost, and a boy learning how to be known. Both versions of Caleb are running from something. Both are searching for the same thing.

For anyone who has ever loved a dog like family, cheered for the quiet kid in the back row, or stood alone in the dark and decided to keep going, this is your book. Because the best stories are never really about being lost. They are about what you find when you finally stop running.

Are you ready to be found? Start the Search and Rescue Dog series today!

Scott C. Hammond writes about his experience finding lost people in the western wilderness with his dog Boo. He is a committed teacher (Utah State University), an award-winning author, a speaker, and is regularly heard on radio and podcasts nationally. He is also a member of one of the best search and rescue teams in the United States where he is involved with about 50 mountain rescue missions a year.