Dogs Don’t Talk by Nancy May is the story of a young lad called Benjamin who starts to look at life differently at the grand age of sixteen. At home, everything seems to be his fault, even when the dog poops on his bedroom carpet, and where the other members of the family appear to get far more attention from his mother than he does. Even at school life is a struggle. Benjamin becomes worn down by taunting and bullying, and feels he will never have a normal life. He takes comfort in his reading where he can become lost in the world of books. When he meets Emily, who shares his love of books, life takes a different turn.

The author, Nancy May, has created a story that not only deals with coming of age issues, but addresses aspects of self-confidence, dealing with bullying, and not being afraid to be yourself. The book shows that it isn’t necessary to conform to social expectations and that you adapt your life to your own strengths and abilities. Although the core of this book has a serious nature, there is humour with the mother’s attitude to the dog and the particular traits of other members of the family. When Benjamin finally meets Emily, she becomes not only his confidante but also his soul mate and helps him face up to his adversaries and those that try to destroy his way of life. The writing is smooth and flows well and the characters are believable; Benjamin in particular comes across as a normal, likeable boy whom any reader will empathise with. Benjamin takes the reader on a life journey that sees him overwhelmed by obstacles, but travels with him to be an overcomer and to see everything, including his family, in a new light.

I was sucked in on the very first page of Nancy May's Dogs Don't Talk. In fact, the very first line made me laugh: "I think my mother likes the dog better than me, even though I've never pooped on her Oriental carpet." Sixteen-year-old Benjamin McDowell, the story's narrator, has a sarcastic, hilarious, adolescent point of view. Dogs Don't Talk tells the story of Benjamin's junior year of high school. Ben's family consists of his work-and-sports-driven father, his stay-at-home mother, his younger dancer sister, Elizabeth, his older autistic brother, Johnny, and their 70-pound brown shepherd mutt, Rosie, whose thoughts are often voiced in a southern drawl by Ben's mom. Ben is an excellent student and on the school's wrestling team. But he can't seem to find anywhere to fit in. His family is mostly consumed with helping Johnny and he only feels nagged and unnoticed at home. At school, he doesn't have many friends and gets pushed around by the jerk on the wrestling team. What Ben wants more than anything is to find a girlfriend. A girlfriend who would make him feel good about himself and make his teammates jealous. But could any girl really love a big-headed nerd with an embarrassing brother?

Dogs Don't Talk was a really fun book to read. Nancy May created a very realistic story with very realistic characters. At times, reading Ben's thoughts made me cringe - the selfish ways he'd react to his brother's outbursts or the possessive feelings he had for his girlfriend - but it was all perfectly typical for a sixteen-year-old. Despite his faults, Ben meant well and was very likable. I truly felt for his mother, who was doing her best to hold things together, teach her children independence, and do everything she could to help Johnny. Her dog-talk was cute and Rosie's actions seemed to always illustrate that the words she was being given were spot on. At first, I wanted a little more from the ending, but then I decided it wouldn't make sense for such a realistic story to be perfectly wrapped up at the end. Overall, this is an easy read and an engaging, entertaining coming of age story!