Dogs Don't Talk

By: Nancy May

Narrated by: Michael Mola

Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

“A funny, warm-hearted and engaging story.” (BlueInk Review)

"A really fun book to read.” (Jackie Timmons, Readers’ Favorite)

Life is pretty bad when you’re jealous of an old mutt and an autistic brother, Benjamin thinks to himself.

If only he knew how to talk to girls, he could achieve both his goals: get a reasonably hot-looking girlfriend and thus get respect from his wrestling teammates. But communication doesn’t come easy in the McDowell family.

Ben’s mother has better conversations with Rosie the dog than she does with him. His older brother, Johnny, can only communicate by singing Beatles' songs. His younger tattletale sister, Elizabeth, has her own problems dealing with the gossipy dance team. Ben’s father, meanwhile, keeps his wishes for Ben short and to the point: make top grades and be a champion wrestler.

Through his love of reading, Ben meets Emily, and life takes a happy turn, until circumstances beyond their control intervene. Find out how Ben learns to deal with his family drama, a school bully, and most of all, with his own insecurities.

©2015 Nancy Young May (P)2020 Nancy May

Description was promising, but the book was disappointing

I called it quits after an hour and a half. I’m sure that, eventually, the main character, Ben, would start to mature and grow as a person, but there’s only so much unjustified, woe-is-me whining I can handle before I get fed up. My tolerance of the victim mentality is pretty low, as well. He’s supposed to be 16 and starting his junior year, but he’s incredibly immature - the things he thinks and says are on par with a naïve six-year-old. He’s EXTREMELY callous when discussing his older brother, who’s on the autism spectrum, and thinks it’s appropriate to hint to a classmate that, if she would lose weight and dress differently, she would be more attractive. My hope was that his behavior would change with the introduction of the love interest mentioned in the description, Emily, but she has yet to make an appearance. It’s really frustrating when authors beat the proverbial dead horse when painting a picture of someone’s character. I just wanted to yell “I get it! Point made! Move on!”

The narration, however, was much better than the material. His voice is perfect for the age group & I’d definitely listen to him again.