24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rollerblading Dogcatchers and Wallace Wallace, March 17, 2003
A Kid's Review
This book is creative, funny, and well-written.
I have read this book several times, and it never got boring. There is never a dull moment with NO MORE DEAD DOGS in your hands.
Wallace Wallace, the star football player that isn't any good, is in detention for writing a bad but truthful book report. He refuses to write one that praises the book ( Old Shep, My Pal), because it isn't truthful. There is a play about the book, but it's being sabatoged. Is Wallace Wallace getting revenge, or is he being framed?
From rollerblading dogcatchers to cherry bombs in stuffed animals, from cover to cover, NO MORE DEAD DOGS is nothing but laughs. Recommended for anyone ages 6-104 that likes a good laugh and a great book.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Get Along, Little Doggie!, July 9, 2005
This is one of the most hilarious books I have EVER read! I laughed so hard I wiped tears of laughter out of my eyes. One thing I caught was that although the story was set in 2000, the date "Saturday, November 21" was given and November 21 was a Saturday in 1998!
Wallace Wallace, the unfortunately one-named 8th-grade protagonist lives by the "honesty is the best policy" credo. Some of his honest observations, while insulting to the recipients are hilariously articulate. For example, he tells a neighbor that her "light fluffy cake" tastes like "vacuum cleaner lint" and the icing reminds him of antifreeze. His cousin's clarinet playing sounds like "somebody strangling a duck." That was just TOO funny!
So are his observations of the maudlin story about Old Shep, a story about the death of a German shepherd. Wallace tells his English teacher (and later play director) that he dislikes the story and that "any book with an award medal on it and a picture of a dog" always has a canine casualty. He and his classmates list several books, including "Sounder" and "Old Yeller." Point made, Wallace is in the dog house with his English teacher. He has to serve detention, which means he cannot participate on the football team.
All right, Wallace grimly accepts that punishment. To cap it off, he has to attend rehearsals of the play "Old Shep" and write a review of the book. His review is scathingly honest and in true Wallace Wallace form, a riot. I laughed so hard at his reviews and observations!
Once committed to the play, Wallace makes many valid suggestions to make it more palatable and plausible. He insists on doing away with the stilted, somewhat implausible lines; he points out details that he feels a modern audience won't buy. His revisions include opening the play with witnessing a toy dog being run over by a motorcycle (a moped for safety's sake), rollerbladers; a punchy garage band and a believable, updated script. Even his nemesis, the redoubtable Mr. F., the English teacher/play director is reluctantly captivated by Wallace's progressive thinking. The clincher was when several boys, members of a garage band called the Dead Mangoes implore Mr. F. to play with them. Mr. F. and the boys, including the Beatle coiffed Myron "The Void" Muckenfusser have a rollicking good time jamming and getting some fun catchy tunes ready for the play. Beatle themes are subtly included, such as the description of Wallace's former best friend's hair as a Moptop and Myron's Beatle inspired locks. I loved that!
Despite the fun, someone is trying to sabatoge the play. Wallace is at the top of everybody's short list, but is he really the one? There are actually other suspects and the list grows until the smash finale prior to the final curtain.
This book is a keeper!
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not a classic, but worth a read, December 20, 2003
This is a snappy, personable read; the characters are interesting (although some are a bit one-dimensional) and the author moves the plot along briskly by maintaining the humor and casual speech that keeps the book grounded even as he sifts the focus from one character to another. The plot has been summarized elsewhere quite nicely, so I'd like to discuss some of the larger ideas the book explores. Having been a "drama nerd," I liked the way the author portrays their earnestness-- they may be a little out of it, but they are well-intentioned and ultimately likeable. I also liked the unrelenting honesty of Wallace Wallace, and the way he deals with the hero worship that he feels is unearned-- worship that serves only to trip him up at every turn. Finally, I enjoyed the portrayal of friendships, both "fair-weather" and true-- any adolescent can instantly connect with both the injustice of the former and the value of the latter, and the concluding affirmation of honesty leaves the reader feeling good about the story as a whole. Not to detract from the lessons to be learned from dead dogs, but it's nice to see characters learn from positive experiences too!
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