Matty Doolin — Catherine Cookson

"I WANT TO BE A VET!"

In his daydreams, fifteen-year-old Matty would stand up to his dad and tell him he didn't want to be a dockworker, no matter how good the pay. But life isn't made of daydreams, and Matty knew that even if he got around his father, it was too late for him to become a vet. He just didn't have the education for it. And his dad wouldn't give him permission to work on a farm, which would have been the next best thing. His parents didn't even want him to keep poor old Nelson, the lame, half-blind dog he'd found in a gutter and nursed back to health.

Unexpectedly, it was Nelson who gave Matty the chance to go on the camping trip that changed everything. In one memorable summer holiday, Matty faced a peril that nearly claimed his life, and learned that sometimes dreams came true after all, if you only believed hard enough....