Brodie doesn’t know how he died, he only knows one thing:  he needs to get back to his boy.

Dan Gemeinhart’s Good Dog is a beautiful tribute to the bond between a dog and their person.  Told through the eyes of the animal companions who share our lives, the reader joins Brodie and his friend, Tuck, on a high-stakes, pulse quickening quest to find Brodie’s boy before it’s too late.  While Gemeinhart’s writing is very graceful in dealing with his subject matter, it still could be difficult and a little traumatic for young readers who are especially sensitive to violence or animals.  Despite this, Good Dog is a touching, heart-breaking, and lovely story that speaks to the soul of anyone who has ever loved an animal.

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Scholastic Press (A Scholastic Imprint)

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  3 religious exclamations; 1 mild obscenity.

Violence/Gore:  Many references to death; many implications of an unknown danger; many references to animal abuse/neglect; several extended fight scenes between animals; cat swipes at dog; several instances of verbal threats; dog runs into parked car; kids throw milk at girl; kids attack boy; boy smashes face during fall; dog recalls being hit by a car; possible violence implied by presence of a firearm; fragmented scene of man beating dog to death.

Sex/Nudity:  None

Mature Subject Matter:

Death, after-life, nature of souls, animal cruelty, unconditional love.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Many references to/scenes of adult humans drinking and smoking.