Parents' Guide to

There Is No Dog

By Darienne Stewart, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

God re-imagined as teen prompts big questions, sharp humor.

Book Meg Rosoff Fantasy 2012
There Is No Dog Poster Image

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What you will—and won't—find in this book.

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What's the Story?

God (a teenager named Bob) made the world in six days and then, smugly bored with the effort, he washed his hands of the whole mess and turned it over to his overworked, underappreciated aide, Mr. B, while he chased after girls. When Bob falls for a beautiful young virgin, the world suffers his sexual frustration: The weather shifts from intense heat to snowfall in an afternoon, floodwaters rise, and comets and rainbows streak across the sky. As he tries to win Lucy, he squabbles with his mother, who drunkenly gambled away his pet's life in a poker game, and clashes with Mr. B, who wants a transfer to a better-run planet. Life on Earth grows ever stranger as Lucy wonders whether this alluring stranger is the answer to her prayers.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say Not yet rated
Kids say (1):
Of course THERE IS NO DOG is controversial, but readers willing to go along with it are in for a treat. Author Meg Rosoff muses on mortality, personal responsibility, free will, faith, love, and sacrifice in this wry novel. Her approach may seem impudent, but it reveals deep compassion for humankind in its search for meaning and understanding. By reimagining Christianity as more akin to the bickering, flawed gods of ancient myths, she explores these themes with both a personal and grander perspectives.
The young characters of Bob and Lucy are the least appealing: Bob is an irredeemable lout, and Lucy is thinly drawn, an idea more than a person. The supporting characters -- Mr. B, Estelle, Lucy's bitter co-worker Luke, the discouraged vicar, and the Eck, Bob's hapless pet -- are the real soul of the story, and the ones who's hopes, dreams, and disappointments will linger long after the book is done.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the twist on Christianity. Do you think the author treats religion respectfully, or is she mocking it?

  • The gods behave much like humans -- indeed, man is made in Bob's own image. Would the characters resonate the same way if they were all ordinary mortals, coping with the same issues on an earthly plane?

Book Details

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