Recommended by: Stephen Dilley/@stephenjdilley
Form and Genre: Verse novel
Length: 252
Summary: A canine bildungsroman which follows the dog Scruffity from an unhappy start in life to discovering ‘the way of dog’ and understanding the world – featuring moments of Dickensian cruelty and lots of lovely moments of tenderness.
Age recommendation and challenging content: Suitable for Year 7 upwards – some references to violence and domestic abuse, sensitively handled
Notable reasons for recommending this book: A really delightful verse novel – the use of perspective and verse form are brilliantly playful and imaginative with lots of opportunities for creative work inspired by this. A great introduction to coming-of-age stories with some nice possible links to Dickens and other writers. Potentially a lovely Year 7 class reader – animals and pets are such a reliably popular topic of conversation with younger students, and even though I am not really a dog person, I was completely enchanted by ‘the way of dog’!