Last in this series, for now. The author says this completes the initial story arc with the main character in elementary school, it will continue with more books featuring the Yuzu in middle or high school I gather.
First story in this book completes the last one from volume 6. When most of the adults are gone one day making deliveries and other errands for the dairy farm, a cow goes into labor and has trouble. Yuzu and her new friend have to help out, saving the cow and its calf (the rotating vet shows up to take charge, but they do the pulling). The drama and joy of seeing the new calf touches the farm girl deeply. She admits then that she really does love the farm, just was ashamed and hurt when some popular girls at school teased her for living and working at a dairy. At the end of the story, she encounters those girls again and they apologize for their past behavior, all is made well.
In the second story, Yuzu encounters an odd case- a girl who doesn’t like her given name, so goes by a different one in public. And never gave her own dog a name, claiming that since the dog always knows when she’s speaking to it, she doesn’t need to label it with a name. This girl dresses differently and has a boyish figure (flat-chested and very short hair) so at first I thought it was going to be a trans or non-binary character. But no. Yuzu is baffled at her antipathy to names, and asks her mother about the origins of her own name. She’s impressed at the amount of thought her parents put into choosing a name for her, and that it has a meaning. She relates this to the girl with the nameless dog. But it isn’t until the dog runs away and gets lost in the street that the girl realizes giving her dog a name would be useful, because then she can call it. They do find the dog -injured- and get help for it at the vet hospital, and then the girl breaks down into tears, says she’ll pick the perfect name for her dog, and oddly enough, starts dressing more feminine and claims she now can accept her own given name as well. I just thought it all a bit- odd.
Third story also struck me as kind of odd. It’s about a boy who’s an artist, and his cat. The fluffy long-haired cat is very beautiful and naturally seems to pose to be admired- and the boy is always drawing and painting pictures of his cat. Then the cat gets sick, resulting in some fur loss and skin rashes. It receives treatment, but there’s no quick fix- the symptoms can be alleviated but it’s a condition the cat will have for a long time. The boy is upset that his “muse” isn’t beautiful anymore, and he’s so despondent that he can’t create art. He super focuses on caring for the cat, trying to make it well again and loosing interest in other activities. Yuzu thinks this is unhealthy and urges him to take a break once in a while, do other things. Then the cat picks up the boy’s paintbrush and leads him to their usual spot, strikes a pose. He’s shocked that the cat might want him to paint her when she’s not beautiful. He realizes that she’s still beautiful in other ways, and determines to try and get back into his art again (even though he still only wants to paint pictures of the cat).
The last story was another heart-wrencher. A dog is brought into the clinic, a rescue with behavior issues. He had been neglected and abused, and constantly barks threateningly at everyone, even when they’re giving him food or treats. Yuzu is hurt and confused that this dog won’t accept any overtures of friendship, won’t even take a walk on a leash. She learns about the dog’s past and her uncle cautions her that this dog doesn’t trust people, it will take a lot of work and patience to help him. Yuzu can’t stand knowing how lonely and hurt the dog must feel, so she tries over and over to get the dog used to the leash, let her come closer, etc. One night she sneaks down to the clinic and sleeps on the floor next to the dog. Finally the dog starts to behave more calmly, and everyone is pleased to see his progress when he accepts the leash to walk outside. They’re relieved to know this dog can overcome his mistrust of humans and probably get adopted someday.
Borrowed from the public library.