By: LuAnn M. Rod
Format: Available in Paperback, ePub, and MOBI
Genre: Fantasy/Speculative
Dog Talk
All GT wants is to make friends in his new town, but when a skateboarding dare goes wrong, his hopes are as dented as the school principal’s car.
His punishment? Taking his mom’s bratty poodle Fifi – decked out in pink polka dot accessories – to her doggie summer camp where he’s vastly outnumbered by retirees with their pets.
Normal life is over.
When GT and Fifi are accidentally zapped by a faulty phone app—technology mixed with a bit of magic—the voices they hear are each other’s, and they can talk back. Fifi is the bane of his existence, and now their lives are entangled in a way GT never dreamed.
Trouble isn’t stopping there. Changes are happening to GT—like wanting to howl at the moon, growl at his sister, and chase every squirrel. It won’t be long until he finds himself among the city’s stray dogs.
To try and stop his magical transformation, GT must form a new pack built on friendship, acceptance, loyalty, and love—the things dogs do best. But he quickly learns there’s more to the situation than he realizes. Dangerously more.
Saving himself might be the only way to save the whole town, dogs included.
Meet LuAnn M. Rod,
the author of Dog Talk
Heidi DeStefano –
DOG TALK is a contemporary fantasy written by an author who definitely knows and loves dogs! Readers will enjoy the descriptions of the main character turning into a dog and will fall in love with Fifi the poodle’s outrageous personality. This fast-paced tale held my attention until the very end!
dasanders.is –
This was a fun read! Who hasn’t wanted to know what their dog was saying? LuAnn Rod has written an entertaining fantasy sure to capture kids and dog lovers everywhere. The conversations between GT and FiFi are a hoot.
GT’s family makes a sudden move to a new town and he struggles with trying to fit in and make friends. He’s faced with a middle school bully who gets him into trouble which results in having his summer ruined by being forced to be the summer doggie caretaker of this mother’s petulant poodle. Then (as if things couldn’t get any worse) GT begins turning into a dog because of a sketchy magical phone app. GT’s troubles get rough and time is running out. Will he stay a dog forever?
GT’s troubles and his canine perspective help him realize the important things in life—being himself (inside and out), loyalty, courage, friendship, and his pack (family).
Elizabeth Raum –
In Dog Talk, author LuAnn Rod has created a page-turning adventure for middle-grade readers. G.T. dreaded spending the summer at dog obedience school with his Mom’s pampered poodle, Fifi. But when his new cell phone allows him to speak “dog,” he faces one danger after another as he races to keep the local dog shelter running and to save a pack of stray dogs. G.T. has to save himself, too! Dog Talk is a great read, especially for dog lovers. And who doesn’t love dogs?
Talitha J Hart –
Anyone who loves dogs will love this fun story about a young boy who gets in way over his head with what was supposed to be a routine summer. GT gets stuck taking his mom’s toy poodle to obedience school as a punishment, to his deep embarrassment, but an accidental run-in with an experimental phone app and a pack of stray dogs leads to a wild adventure that helps him make friends, overcome his anxiety, and stand up to a bully! Fun and engaging, with enough suspense to keep you turning pages while not being too scary for younger readers. I can highly recommend it.
SageReads –
A fun, contemporary low fantasy story with dogs, humor, magic, and a mystery. A highlight for me was the banter between the main character, middle schooler GT, and his mom’s poodle, Fifi. Throughout the story, author LuAnn Rod depicts a variety of dog personalities in a way dog lovers will appreciate. I couldn’t help but root for GT and his canine companions all the way to the satisfying conclusion.
Jennifer Clower –
Fun and imaginative story!
George Theodore, more commonly known as GT, is a 7th grade boy who is struggling to make friends and fit in after a recent move to a new town. GT also faces a stuttering issue and tends to “blurt out” random facts when nervous, which embarrasses him and makes fitting in difficult. When a skateboarding dare goes wrong, he ends up in trouble and part of his punishment is taking his mother’s poodle, Fifi, to doggie day camp….since he despises the dog, things are not going great! When an accident breaks his cell phone and leaves him desperate to avoid more trouble, he runs into a man at the farmers market who sells him a “special phone” at a great price. Only the phone is not just a phone, and he ends up being able to hear what Fifi is saying! This leads them on an adventure together that takes an even bigger turn when he actually starts to change into a dog himself! Then the race is on to fix his doggy situation and save the local dog shelter and its inhabitants before it is too late.
I appreciated the fun idea of technology and magic blending to create this opportunity for GT and Fifi to connect and understand each other better. I really loved that GT learned important lessons that friendship, courage, love and loyalty are powerful ingredients for a successful/happy life. I also loved that his character grew through the course of the book to realize that he was not happy with how things were going and that he wanted to make changes to create the life that he did want… A great lesson for kids in today’s culture. Be aware that there are multiple discussions about dog shelters/euthanasia of those animals unable to find homes, so that may be troubling for your more sensitive/animal loving kids…good idea to discuss this ahead of time or avoid the book for the time being.
Cons: Gt mentions several times that his mom likes her dog better than him, and it does appear that way at times in the book. However, this issue is never resolved by the end of the story, and I feel that this was a missed opportunity for reconciliation between him and his mom. If nothing else, I feel that leaving this aspect of the storyline incomplete, paints his mother in a bad light and does not encourage a healthy/positive relationship example. Finally, the reason the animal shelter was in danger, was a threat from a mob boss…this part of the story felt super rushed and not well explained as to the how/why (especially since it was brought up so near the end of the book) and the completion of this part of the story line felt abrupt.
Overall, this was a fun read and I think it is well suited for the middle school crowd….dog lovers will enjoy this new way to connect between man and dog.
I received an advance reader copy of this book from Chicken Scratch Books however, my review is voluntary and reflects my personal opinion.
Susan Phelan –
This book was a lot of fun and I loved GT’s growth! The book kept me engaged from beginning to end. It’s truly a book written by someone who knows and loves dogs. A winner for sure.
Milana Marsenich –
GT, a middle school boy, has just moved to a new town and hopes to make some new friends before the last day of school lets out. But a skateboarding trick goes terribly awry, and he gets in big trouble. His mother grounds him for the summer. She also sentences him to take Fifi, her French Poodle, to doggie summer camp. If you don’t think it can get much worse for a middle school boy, it can. Fifi doesn’t behave and adamantly rebels. While his mother finds Fifi adorable, GT finds the barking little bit of white fluff annoying.
And then things take a real downhill turn when he crushes his new phone and buys a cheap phone from a street vendor. Strange things start to happen to him. He can suddenly hear Fifi talking. Before he knows it, he starts seeing things from a dog’s point of view, more literally than he’d like. Nefarious forces come into play and danger lurks around every corner, danger especially for stray dogs in the town. GT needs to use all his senses, human and dog alike, with Fifi by his side, to save himself and the town’s homeless dogs. But will there be time?
Luann M. Rod is a master storyteller. She writes with good humor and intrigue to bring the reader into the world of dogs. She knows dogs and their humans. Dog Talk is endearing, funny, and engaging, with a new marvel on every page. If you like dogs, or know young people who like dogs, or just want to experience a delightful time, read Dog Talk. GT learns good lessons, the most important lessons, the lessons we keep learning throughout life: who to trust, how to give himself and others a chance, and how to be of service in the wildest of times. His story is an inspiration and a fun adventure. Chicken Scratch Books also has a curriculum available to teachers who would like to use Dog Talk in their classrooms, providing another way to engage young minds. Dog Talk is an all-around good-hearted, five-star novel, with lots of brilliant surprises. I highly recommend it.
Betty Vanderwielen –
GT, the new kid in town, has already blown it trying to make a hit at school. Now his hopes for making friends at summer soccer camp have been quashed because he has to take his mom’s prissy poodle Fifi to doggie camp instead. And then, through a combination of magic and technology, he finds he can understand what Fifi is saying! And she can understand him! And he’s slowly turning into a dog himself! And that’s just the beginning of his adventures, which will include a pack of stray dogs, an animal shelter forced to close and its dogs in danger of being euthanized, and even a mobster plot. But through it all, GT will find a couple of best friends (one human, one doggie) and also learn the enduring canine value of loyalty to the pack, be that human or canine.
LuAnn Rod’s interpretation of various dog traits is fun and wonderful. Any dog-loving kid will enjoy this book.