Book Review: "DogTown"

By Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko

“DogTown” by Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko is about Chance the real dog and Metal Head the robot dog learning that they might not be so different after all as they both try to be reunited with their respective families. They both live at an animal shelter where all the dogs are waiting for their special someones to come adopt them before they’re put on The List. Yes, this middle grade novel tackles the heavy topic of pet euthanasia. It goes there. No, I will not spoil on whether or not the dog(s) die.

What I found really interesting about this book is that all of its chapters are incredibly short. If our main character, Chance, is changing a topic they’re talking about in 1st person, then we get a new chapter. Many of these chapters are just a page long, some of them are only two pages long. It is a thick book, but the short chapters make it very easy to eat up the story a few chapters at a time. With each next chapter being a “that wasn’t so bad/long” feeling attached to it, it makes it a lot easier to finish the book in one, maybe two days.

While I was more blown away by the illustrations in “A Wolf Called Wander,” the illustrations in “DogTown” by Wallace West were very cute and would be scribbled in on the edges, mingling with the text. I enjoyed seeing every one of them. (Katherine Applegate also left a loving quote for the book, “A Wolf Called Wander,” encouraging people to read it. So it’s not too much of a stretch to include references to “A Wolf Called Wander” here, which I have already reviewed. Feel free to read my book review here: “A Wolf Called Wander.”)

Another thing that DogTown does is show that everyone is different, and that doesn’t make them bad. Chance learns that Metal Head isn’t exactly what she thought of him, and Metal Head learns Chance isn’t exactly what he thought of her, either. And they both accept a child character who clearly is neurodivergent and engaging with the world around him as best he can. I really appreciate how the book tackles the various sensitive subjects it touches.

DogTown even includes a list of things kids can do to help animals get adopted at the animal shelters to help prevent overcrowding which leads to animals getting put on the euthanasia list. While there is a lot of sad in the world, anyone who loves animals should do whatever they can to help it be a little less sad and bring happiness into shelter pets’ lives.