đź“š The Dog Heist
Book Info:
Title: The Dog Heist by Dani Jansen
Genre: Middle Grade
Publishing Date: September 1, 2026
Review:
4.5 stars 🌟
With the strength of a novel in verse. This is a short literary fiction work for children that is not focused on a fast-paced action plot format to entertain, but more of a quiet, emotional (kinda sad and bleak isolation) and introspection of their lives. Both POVs (Caleb & Val) realize from their coming-of-age difficulties and how they have to grow quickly. It touches many hard subjects, such as divorce, difficulty adapting to a new school that doesn't put effort into understanding or listening to the students' point of view, communication, animal abuse, body shaming... and so much more that kids can relate to. It's told from a very mature perspective, taking these subjects seriously as trauma. I love the parallelism of Lyra's story (the dog) and how they save themselves (taking action to pick the right path for themselves) at the same time that they save Lyra. The chapters are very short, with scenes of thoughts that focus more on relevant moments of the story rather than detailing each step by step of their daily routine.
Caleb needs to make a choice thinking of what is best for his future.
It has a lot that teachers and educators can use to explore in the classroom.
I liked the cover art and size of the book very much.
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
Synopsis:
A neglected dog brings two misfits together in this adventure for middle schoolers who love animals and stories where the kids take charge.
For Caleb, September is off to a rough start. His parents have split up, he’s moved to a new town, and—worst of all—he misses his dog. Valery is his new neighbor, but apart from being in the same class, they have nothing in common. Valery is lonely and hurt since her best friend abandoned her for a boy, and she thinks Caleb is just obnoxious. Under normal circumstances,
they’d never be friends. But these aren’t normal circumstances.
There’s a hurricane coming, and Valery and Caleb are both worried for Lyra, their neighbor’s terribly neglected dog. None of the adults in their lives will do anything, so they hatch a plan to rescue her themselves, no matter how risky.
Book Links:
Amazon: https://a.co/d/0bUZ3Gzt
About the Author:
Dani Jansen is an English and drama teacher who lives in Tiohtià :ke/Montréal. She performed (as a teacher) in her school’s glee show for eight years. Yes, there is probably video evidence of this. No, she will not point you in the direction of where to find it. Dani helped found her school’s
Gay-Straight Alliance and has only occasionally subjected her students to the Bard. Her writing has appeared in This Magazine, Lunch Ticket, The A3 Review, and Fiction Southeast. She has also contributed to Maman Loup’s Den. Her debut novel, The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life, came out September 22, 2020.
Author Links:
Website: https://www.danijansen.ca/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniannejansen/
@topplingstackstours & @daniannejansen 
Comments