Diamondback Dog

Brenda Baltensperger is a playwright, a director of children’s
theatre, an editor of children’s fiction, and the author of Fractured
Fairy-tales.

In this companion book to Parents from Space, Coriander, a.k.a. Feet,
finds in her yard a dog with a strange diamond pattern on its back. The
dog communicates telepathically that his name is Laika II and that
he’s a time traveler from the future. Feet affectionately names him
Duke and introduces him to her friends Vivienne, Neville, and Harry, who
are in the process of writing a movie script. They all attend the same
high school.

Duke explains that he is slightly color blind. As a result, he can’t
find the correct sequence of the color-coded buttons that will return
his doghouse time capsule to the future. The teens enlist the help of
Professor Purzelbaum, a scientist from the university, to help them
solve the problem, but he returns with a poet and tries to use poetry to
initiate a sequence. Meanwhile Feet manages to transport herself into
the past where she meets Captain George Vancouver. Her second attempt
lands her at Duke’s home base, where she is given a card with the
correct sequence and sent back home.

Diamondback Dog raises some interesting points about history, but it is
really intended for readers who can tolerate a high level of absurdity.
Recommended with reservations.