"In a nutshell: exciting, unusual rescue story set in Australia’s dense forest"
A Different Dog is the story of the special relationship that develops between a boy and a dog and how it saves them both. It’s beautifully told in short, spare sentences that will make it accessible to all readers, and full of unexpected twists. The boy at the centre of the story – we never learn his name – is poor, lonely and bullied by other children because of his selective mutism. The dog he rescues from a car crash that has killed its owner is subject to its own set of painful compulsions, finding out why is one of the surprises and rewards of the story. This will absorb readers, from the opening page to its warm, uplifting final line. Readers will also enjoy Pippa Goodhart’s A Dog Called Flow, which tells another satisfying story of the special, healing bond between a boy and a dog.
Find more books with Positive Images of Disability.
| Suitable For: | |
| Other Genres: |
The child narrator of A Different Dog can't speak - we assume it is from a disability or a reaction to a trauma in his past. He is teased by the other kids and is a loner. On a cold winter's day, when everyone is participating in a fun run on the mountain, our narrator finds himself alone at the scene of a car accident where the driver has died. But there is a little dog in the car... What follows is a moving story of survival and redemption (and somehow humour in the midst of all that), all told in a 96-page novella.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed A Different Dog and determined it is suitable for children aged 11-12 years old
A Different Dog features in the following genres: Books to Motivate Reluctant Readers age 11+, Recommendations, Gritty Reads, Animal Stories, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Featured Books for 11+ readers
A Different Dog is available in Paperback
A Different Dog was written by Paul Jennings and published by Old Barn Books
A Different Dog has 81 pages
£6.29
