Eileen Beha

Tango: the Tale of an Island Dog
Bloomsbury, 2009
ages 8 to 12, ISBN 978-1-599-90262-3

When a Yorkshire Terrier washes up on the shores of Prince Edward Island, his adventure is just beginning. Tango—the privileged pet of a Manhattan couple—will have to adjust to life in a rustic fishing village, make friends with a tribe of feral cats, rescue a runaway girl, and find his way home again...

Eileen Beha is the author of TANGO: The Tale of an Island Dog, published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books USA in April, 2009. An audio recording of the book will be released by Listening Library (Random House Audio) in August, 2009.

TANGO is a classic tale of animal adventure set on the island made famous by L. M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. Because of Anne, Eileen made her first visit to Prince Edward Island in 1974. She returned in 1984, and since then, spends summers vacationing on the south shore of the island near the quaint village of Victoria-by-the-Sea.

Told by an omniscient narrator, Tango’s tale shifts perspectives, alternating chapter by chapter, between three animal and two human characters: Tango, a shipwrecked Yorkshire terrier; Beau, an island fox with a long-held secret; Nigel, a three-legged cat fallen on hard times; Augusta, a broken-hearted widow; and McKenna, a young Mi'kmaq girl who is on the run.

Eileen grew up in southeastern Wisconsin. As a child, Eileen loved visiting the dairy farms where her parents grew up. Searching for newborn kittens in haylofts, taking in stray cats that her mother never let her keep, and wishing that her canary would magically turn into a puppy were the beginnings of Eileen’s lifelong affection for animals.

After taking a variety of writing classes offered through community-based programs in the Twin Cities, Eileen enrolled in the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing at Hamline University. While at Hamline Eileen took a 2-credit course, Writing the Middle Grade Novel, taught by Kate DiCamillo. Kate encouraged Eileen to contact Jane Resh Thomas about enrolling in Jane’s bi-monthly workshops for writers of children’s literature. Eileen continues to attend Jane’s workshops and considers the manuscript critiques, literary discussions, and collegial support as central to her identity as a writer.

A former middle school principal, Eileen lives in Minneapolis and Miami with her husband, Ralph, and two terriers, Tango and Louise. Eileen and Ralph are the parents of four grown children and have two grandsons who love books.