A Girl Called Dog

A Girl called Dog by Nicola Davies

Review by Ellie Faulconbridge aged 9

A Girl called Dog is a story about a girl, whose parents weren't with her anymore. She had to go and live with her not-very-nice uncle. In the story, Dog is treated very badly, even when her uncle is in a good mood, he is still not that nice. Dog has to live like a dog in amongst the cages of her uncle's pet shop.

Dog's best friend is Esme, the coati, who helps her stay slightly happier. In the story, an unusual, noisy parcel turns up at the pet shop - it contains a very bedraggled parrot called Carlos. As the story continues the three friends decide that they need to stick together, when people come to buy them, so they escape from the sad, dangerous pet shop and Dog's nasty uncle.

After they escape they have a few more near misses, meet new friends and discover their true identities.

This book gives a dramatic description that is easy to imagine of a child who is badly treated. The threat of the big, black box as punishment was really scary. It made me feel afraid even reading it. The author uses her understanding and research of child slavery to write dramatically about the feelings of Dog.

The whole story made me feel grateful that I have a proper family and a proper name.

My favourite part of the book was when Dog got her voice back and could say her proper name. My funniest part was when Carlos needed the toilet and insisted that he need a human toilet. The description of this made me really smile.

I would recommend this book to girls and boys my age, I would also recommend this book to adults especially the serious bits at the back.