Boys are dogs! At least that's what Annabelle is beginning to think. She's just started 6th grade, and the boys in her school are terrible. They trip her in the hallway, call her names like "Spazabelle," and generally make her life completely miserable. Life at home isn't much better, either. When Annabelle was away at camp this summer, her mom's boyfriend moved in, so now there's this new guy in the house all the time (he's not so bad, but still, it's kind of weird). One really good thing happened, though; Annabelle got a puppy. But, puppies take a lot of work, so Annabelle spends most of her free time training Pepper not to do bad puppy things like pee on the floor or chew on her shoes. And finally, after weeks of work, the puppy starts to listen. Things are school are still pretty bad, though, and Annabelle knows that she's going to need to take drastic measures unless she wants to spend the next three years getting picked on. So, she starts to really look at how the boys at her school act and she realizes they reminder her a bit of Pepper when he's not behaving. And if the boys are acting like puppies, then maybe, just maybe, those training strategies she used on Pepper might work on boys, too.
This is a great book for younger readers that tackles some weighty subjects in a way that is inspiring and fun. Kids face many changes and challenges as they enter middle school, and Boys Are Dogs shows how inner strength and a little determination can help them adjust to new situations. I also appreciate that this book portrays blended families in a positive but realistically complicated manner. Annabelle is a likeable character that readers can relate to (who hasn't been picked on at one time or another in their life?), and she navigates her situation with plenty of pluck and some serious 'can do' attitude.
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