Boys Are Dogs (review)
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When Annabelle and her mother move in with Mom’s boyfriend, Ted, Annabelle receives an obstreperous puppy, Pepper. Pepper is to some extent a bribe, since Annabelle’s unhappy about leaving her old friends behind and starting sixth grade at a new school; though she manages to make some good girl friends from the get-go, she’s repeatedly hassled by troublemaking boys at school—and, unfortunately, at home, because one of them lives on her street. Finding a dog-training guide to be an invaluable assistant in redirecting Pepper’s energies away from the destructive, she decides to take a new tack at school and apply the book’s lessons to her bad-dog classmates. This sounds like a fluffy story about the power of pink, but it’s actually realistically wise as well as understanding about middle-school dynamics. The new-school experience is depicted with anxiety-provoking vividness, and the behavior of Annabelle’s tormentors is absolutely authentic, ranging from pushy posturing to casual bullying. The passages from the fictional dog-training manual are breezy reads in their own right, and they’re on target about dog obedience (there’s better advice here than in most dog stories, in fact). With Annabelle’s extrapolation, Margolis makes a telling point that people, like dogs, respond to one’s presentation and behavior, yet she never shifts that into blaming the victim, and Annabelle’s highly varied results demonstrate that human behavior is terrifically complex. Annabelle’s narration is plainspoken and plaintive: she’s a normal kid, with occasional touches of rueful wit, struggling through a tough transition. This is solid, readable realism, sure to appeal to fans of school stories and domestic dramas who will appreciate this fresh new heroine and look forward to her planned future outings.
