Dogs Don't Tell Jokes

It took me a while to warm up to this one, and it can't compare to Holes, There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom, or Wayside School..., but the last fifty pages are quite good.

This book is hard to pin-point an age range for. The MC wants to be a comedian, and so constantly tells sort-of funny jokes in preparation for the school talent show. I'd give this to the 11-year-old I know who loves really bad jokes, but there is also mention (in a humorous way) of a woman's long-legged-ness, and jokes about envisioning people (including said beautiful woman - who's the boy's teacher) in the shower. Because of this, no 11 year old boy should read this. So where does that put it? I don't know, and all I can say is the jokes are pretty bad, with a few funny ones, Greg (the MC) is a kinda cliche outcast with a talent (for jokes, in this book), and the plot is practically non-existent. The big, horrible calamity they build show more up to is - no, I won't spoil it. But it's pretty anticlimactic. I don't know, I didn't really like it at all, but it's not one star. I think I'd give it one and a half, if Goodreads gave that option. The romance is clumsy, too. Forgot to mention that.
I'd say girls could read this at a younger age than boys, just because talking about women the way it is done in this book might be rather provocative in boys, but girls are more likely to roll their eyes and blush at this rather bad view of how this boy sees his female teacher. show less

Enjoyable, very quick read. The boys and I were laughing a lot. The story is especially appropriate right now because I have a son who wants to be the class clown and does not know when to hold back a joke.

Gary Boone, also known as "Goon," is always telling jokes. Jokes are his life. However, his parents, schoolmates, and teachers do not always appreciate his mindset. Therefore, Goon has a lot of trouble making friends.

When his school decides to have a talent show, Goon signs up right away to do a stand-up comedy act. He thinks that showing off his best jokes will make people realize how funny he is and make everyone want to be his friend. Will Goon's plan succeed, or will it alienate him further from those around him?

Dogs Don't Tell Jokes is an enjoyable read for ages 10 and up. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll cringe and groan and cheer.

This book is about a boy that is named Gary Boon. His so called "friends" him Goon. This boy is a joker likes to make bad jokes and he laughs at everything. Even when someone hurts him emotionally or physically, he laughs to relieve the pain. At the end he enters a talent show and tells his best jokes at it with the perfect timing in pauses in between the punchline and the joke.

This book is perfect for people that want to feel bad for people. Even if the main character gets a good ending. I recommend this book to kids of all ages because: its funny, and it has a good story. Yet it is not a book that you would find in a "high class good books only" kind of Library. This book has no series.

Dogs Don't Tell Jokes is a great book! It is about this seventh grade boy named Gary W. Boone and he loves telling jokes to just about anyone which would sometimes cause him not to do his work at school. He had this friend named Angeline, she was only 10 but in high school. There was a talent show coming up and if you won you would win $100, Gary signed up for it. One day his parents asked him to make a deal that if he didn't tell jokes for 3 weeks he would get $100 from them. He agreed. After a while, Gary thought his jokes where boring so he quit the talent show. But Mrs.Stitzenberry came (his imaginary friend) and talked to him to get back in, so he did. Then he went to the talent show and everything went great! He won first place show more which meant he won $100! show less

I remember reading this as a child, over and over. I found a copy in one of my boxes of junk, along with Holes and other school-day-era books.