No More Dead Dogs

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!

In "No more Dead Dogs" Wallace Wallace is in detention for writing a bad book review on "old shep my pal". Wallace can not write a good review because Wallace Wallace never lies. He was a Football Hero, scoring the last touchdown in the playoff game, that won the championship for the Giants. Everybody in school thinks he's a Hero except for Cavanaugh (exbest friend) and Rachel Turner (drama club leader). Mr Floggleman (English teacher) is the teacher who put Wallace in Detention and is director of the Play "Old Shep My Pal". Wallace is stuck in the Gym on detention and makes changes to the play to make it more interesting. Because of his detention Wallace can not play on the football team. Many attacks on the play give suspision that Wallace did it. Trudy Davis (co-actress) is interested in Wallace. She sticks up for him everytime. Will Wallace ever get out of Detention? Will the Play ever happen? Will Trudy and Wallace fall in Love? These are good questions to find out read the book.

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.

No More Dead Dogs, by Gordon Korman, is a humorous tale of Wallace Wallace. The plot shows Wallace as a student football star who doesn't really care about his schoolwork. His teacher gives the class an assignment to read and write a report on Old Shep, My Pal, which is the teacher's favorite book. When Wallace turns in a poorly written report, the teacher gives him detetion until he writes a satisfactory report. Wallace now is forced to miss football practice numerous times because he refuses to write another report. In detention, Wallace must sit and watch rehearsals of the school play, which just so happens to be from the book, Old Shep, My Pal, and directed by his teacher. At first, Wallace makes fun of the cast, and their work, but in the end, he helps the cast with the play's props and production. Gordon Korman has a humorous informal style of writing. The novel captures the very mind of typical pre-adolescent children.

Here is a great book for those boys who don't want to read fantasy, adventure or sports books. This book is about a boy who writes a bookreport for his class assignment. His report pans the book and he finds out that not only does his teacher love the book ... but... the teacher is producing the play. His punishment for writing this bookreport is to work on the play until he can write what the teacher feels is a proper report. This pulls him off the football team. He is no football player but due to really not knowing what he was doing last year, he accidentally scored a winning touch down and became a football hero. I laughed while reading this book - you will, too.