Have you tried these candylicious books
Winter of Fire-somewhat similar to Giver of you've read that one
Penny: The Story of a free soul basset hound
Sacajawea- really long but very good
The Plague Dogs
Watership Down

Here's a few I reviewed on my neopets page years ago, too bad they filter a lot of the words http://www.neopets.com/~hlaoroo452