No More Dead Dogs

Wallace Wallace cannot tell a lie. He always tells the absolute truth. So when he wrote a book report about "Old Shep, My Pal" he said it sucked in no uncertain terms. His teacher isn't having it so Wallace gets detention until he can write a proper report. While in detention, Wallace has the chance to observe rehearsals for the school play that his teacher is directing. The play? "Old Shep, My Pal." Wallace cannot tell a lie so he starts making suggestions for improving the play: put in a rollerblading dog catcher, a moped disguised as a motorcycle, add a rock band. But when someone begins sabotaging the play is Wallace lying when he says he's not doing it?

Wallace Wallace, accidental football hero, is on detention because his teacher doesn't like his review of "Old Shep, My Pal." Detention happens to take place during play rehearsals for a play based on the very same book, because the teacher is also the director of the play. Wallace Wallace, who cannot tell a lie, starts making suggestions to improve the play. Meanwhile, someone is trying to sabotage the play, and a lot of people think it's Wallace Wallace.

Wallace Wallace notes early in the book "Go to the library and pick out a book with an award sticker and a dog on the cover. Trust me, that dog is going down" (p. 5). So true.

I especially appreciate that this book doesn't end the way Andrew Clements' books end, with the kids learning show more to ignore injustice to make school life easier. In this book, the teacher even learns a lesson! show less

This review is also available on my blog, Read TIll Dawn.

This is one of my all-time favorites of Korman's - and that's saying a lot! I've read the vast majority of his books, and loved the vast majority of those. His books are funny, clever, witty, and always leave you with a smile at the end of the day. I own a bunch of Gordon Kormans, but this is one of my favorites - right up there with Schooled and The Chicken Doesn't Skate. I've read it literally more times than I can count, coming back to it again and again whenever I need cheering up or a reminder of why I love to read. I finally bought my own copy with one of the gift cards I got for Christmas, and I loved re-reading it yet again! It never grows old for me, and I could literally show more read it over and over again and never get sick of it.

This is a character-driven book, full of characters with just enough quirk to be hilarious and charming, but not enough to be over-the-top obnoxiously quirky. The traditional school roles of the jocks and the drama nerds are simultaneously affirmed and trampled in this book where the most happening event of the school year is the play, and the star of the football team spends far more time back-stage than he does on the field.

Speaking of Wallace Wallace (no typo, his first name is also his last name!), he is both heartwarming and hilarious. He unerringly tells the truth no matter what the question, or who is listening. This means that he is absolutely, rolling-on-the-ground, hilarious when people ask him questions that really warrant a white lie, not a detailed (and completely truthful) answer. I love him for being so honest, so straightforward, and so matter-of-fact about things. He wants more than anything else to be honest, but along the way he creates a big mess.

Of course, the story is not just about Wallace. It switches POV between many other characters as well, including Rachel (president of the drama club), Trudi (Rachel's ditzy best friend with a crush on Wallace), and Mr. Fogelman (the teacher who forces Wallace to participate in the play until he writes a positive essay about Old Shep, My Pal). The POV switches often enough to keep things fresh, without confusing the reader. Every chapter is narrated in first person by a different character, but each of them has such a different voice that it is impossible to forget who is talking. My favorite narrator would have to be Rachel, because I love her by herself and because I love seeing Wallace through her eyes.

I can't put into words why exactly I love this book so much, but I do, and I wholeheartedly reccomend it to anyone and everyone. Please, read it. You'll thank me once you're finished. show less

Kids hate it when the dog dies. Okay, we all hate it when the dog dies. I've taught Old Yeller a couple of times, and, even though the narrator tells us in the first paragraph how the story ends, the kids are still surprised, shocked, angry at the ending. I've never been brave enough to read Where the Red Fern Grows--two dogs die in that one. Even a book like Sounder, where the dog lives, is too much. If there's a dog on the cover and a teacher is handing out copies to the class, the kids know what to expect.

So of course the hero of Gordon Korman's novel No More Dead Dogs, Wallace Wallace, wants to rewrite the ending of Old Shep, My Pal when his teacher selects it for the school play. No one wants to see Old Shep die, even if it is a show more classic. Let the dog live for once!

Wallace ends up rewriting the school play through misadventure. While on suspension from the football team, he has to spend his afternoons watching rehearsals and just can't refrain from offering up suggestions. Turns out, his suggestions are good. After fighting him off as long as he can, Wallace's teacher begins incorporating the suggestions and finds that he has a hit on his hands as a result.

No More Dead Dogs is a perfect book for avid and reluctant readers alike. There is this notion that the only way to get certain kids to read, boys mostly, is to force gross-out humor on them-- books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants. I've not read either of these so I cannot comment on them, but the idea that boys will only read books full of crass humor is insulting. Boys, just like girls, will read books that entertain them and offer them a compelling reason to read. No More Dead Dogs delivers the humor, it delivers an entertaining story that keeps the reader turning the pages, and it delivers an admirable hero for both boys and girls in Wallace Wallace.

And my 7th graders all thought the book was very realistic. I asked.

Gordon Korman probably won't win many awards for high quality writing. Entertaining his readers is always his main goal, but somebody should give him a medal for doing that. Entertaining young readers is not an accomplishment to be sneezed at. No More Dead Dogs entertains. show less

Wallace Wallace never tells lies -- even when it means insulting his teacher's favorite book and landing him in detention.

No More Dead Dogs features Wallace Wallace, reluctant 8th grade football star, as the boy who refuses to lie. When his English teacher assigns the book "Old Shep," Wallace's review is less than glowing. He's sick of reading books where the dog dies in the end. Angered by this less-than-favorable review of his favorite book and Wallace's refusal to re-do the assignment, his teacher punishes Wallace by giving him detention; Wallace is forced to work on the school's upcoming play -- Old Shep. Stuck working on a play he hates and unable to play football, Wallace eventually accepts his punishment and begins making show more suggestions to make the play a little more entertaining and realistic, to the excitement and enthusiasm of most of the actors. But when someone starts sabotaging the play, all fingers point toward the one person who hates the story most.

"No More Dead Dogs" is a smart, funny story from beginning to end. Wallace Wallace is an unflinchingly honest narrator, and his observations on his fellow classmates, the play, and the idea that the dog must always die are both insightful and humorous, if a little biting at times. Korman is pretty well-known for his humor, and it shows in this book. At the same time, the story has a real heart -- and it's Wallace's struggle to find out just who he really is (a football hero? a play director? a normal kid?) and what true friendship really means. This book is recommended for any middle-school library. In fact, I would highly recommend it, as it is the rare novel that will appeal to middle-school boys, and can be enjoyed without embarrassment by high-schoolers with a lower reading level. (Gr. 5-8) show less

Target audience: Ages 10-14

Middle school Wallace Wallace, after reading the book Old Shep, My Pal, concludes in his book review that it is the most boring book he has ever read. However, his remark gets him in hot water because his teacher absolutely loves the book. He punishes him by making him sit through his directing a play based on the same book. Wallace ends up making all these changes to the play, which to the horrors of his teacher and Rachel, the president of the drama club, makes the play better.

The book is fun due to its zany characters and crazy ideas. For instance, there is that ditzy girl who has a crush on Wallace. Readers will laugh out loud as she recounts the events as she sees them. In addition, there is school show more newspaper reporter who manages to get every details wrong, as in wrong interpreation. Readers will laugh until their bellies ache as the reporter publishes the articles on the school newspaper. The book is witty and fun and it appeals to both boys and girls. The book is told from multiple first-person points of view: Wallace, Trudi, and Rachel. Some of the events seem unlikely, but that's what makes the book fun. Wallace Wallace manages to bring out the best in everyone. Korman sends us a message: Is honesty the best policy? Wallace gets into trouble because he tells the truth. The message definitely relates to teenagers as they deal with pressures to be truthful. show less

Nobody understands Wallace Wallace. This reluctant school football hero has been suspended from the team for writing an unfavorable book report of Old Shep, My Pal. But Wallace won't tell a lie — he hated every minute of the book! Why does the dog in every classic novel have to croak at the end?
After refusing to do a rewrite, his English teacher, who happens to be directing the school play Old Shep, My Pal, forces him go to the rehearsals as punishment. Although Wallace doesn't change his mind, he does end up changing the play into a rock-and-roll rendition, complete with Rollerblades and a moped.