“The Unlikely Tale of Chase and Finnegan,” by Jasmine Warga, Balzer and Bray, 2026.
Jasmine Warga’s novel tells of a friendship between a cheetah cub who wants to be brave and a puppy with a bad reputation. Chase, the cub, is timid. Finnegan, the puppy, is skeptical and wise. The tale, written with eight-to-12-year-olds in mind, is heartwarming, the plot straightforward. Warga writes to please.
When the novel begins, we find Finnegan lost in a forest, having been wounded by a frightening creature. A man named Ryan (who smells delicious) finds Finnegan in the woods, takes him to a vet, and brings him home. Overwhelmed by new smells and textures, Finnegan warily accepts his rescue. Getting comfortable in his new environment, he looks forward to walks in the neighborhood, tries new food, yet still pines for his previous owner. Ryan’s partner, Basma Abdallah, is delighted by Finnegan’s willingness to follow directions and soon accepts him as part of their family.
Chase’s story begins a little differently. A cheetah cub born in the zoo, she looks skyward often. She is comforted by her mother’s milk and heartbeat, her reassuring voice and her constant praise of their human captors. But Chase’s contentment is suddenly interrupted when her mother is led away by those very humans, never to return. The separation turns Chase mistrustful.
Basma Abdallah, who is Chase’s keeper as well as Ryan’s partner, plays the role of matchmaker, introducing the cub and the puppy. Basma hopes that Finn will help Chase with her shyness. Chase and Finnegan fulfill Basma’s expectations, playing together, creating a friendship that distracts Chase from her grief and Finnegan from his insecurities. Warga introduces readers to Chase and Finnegan separately, and until the two meet, they experienced grief, abandonment and love in different ways. The differences turn out to add a dimension to their healing. Over the course of the story, Chase and Finnegan grow closer and become a family. After a frightening storm, Finnegan finally lets down his guard and reveals intimate details of his life with Samuel, his former owner.
The book is as sentimental as it sounds. Still, I finished with some questions. Warga describes the setting as a “rehabilitation zoo” and explains that Basma put Chase with Finnegan through its “Cheetah Ambassador Program,” which fosters social connections with other animals, such as dogs. If the zoo is a place to rehabilitate animals, however, then why wasn’t Chase’s mother released into the wild after she healed? And why wasn’t Chase given an opportunity to go with her? Chase’s skyward gazing represents her yearning for freedom; she wonders what her life would be like beyond the zoo. But her curiosity is repressed by the need to please her captors, and Warga seems to believe that the healing of trauma is all there is to a relationship. It is an adult’s view of how elementary schoolers should interact. Warga’s target audience — elementary school children — will know from their own experience that friendships are more complicated. Despite her didactic aims, the story is more than “unlikely.” It is a fairy tale.
Niusha Summers is a junior at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.
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