BOYS ARE DOGS

This frank and funny look at middle school finds Annabelle the new girl in school. Coming from a girls’ Catholic school, she finds the boys in public school as hard to decipher as the new puppy her mom has given her to soften the blow of moving. In the dog-training manual Annabelle discovers tricks for making boys sit, stay, and even beg. Narrator Ellen Grafton gives Annabelle an innocence and a genuine girly tone that will make listeners long to help her muzzle the pack of teenage boys she must face at school. Grafton gives each character a recognizable voice—from Mom's hippie boyfriend to the obnoxious boy across the street. But it's her heartfelt Annabelle that makes this hard to put down. M.M.C. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2009]