Dogs

by Bill Condon

Book by Condon, Bill

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Bill Condon's young adult novels, Dogs (2001) and No Worries (2005) were Honour Books in the CBCA (Australian Book of the Year) Awards. No Worries was also short-listed for the Ethel Turner Prize in the 2005 NSW Premier's Literary Awards. In 2010 Bill's Confessions Of A Liar, Thief And Failed Sex God won the inaugural Prime Minister's Literary Award for young adult fiction. A Straight LineTo My Heart is Bill's most recent young adult novel. In 2012 it was a CBCA Honour Book, and was short-listed in the Prime Minister's Lterary Awards and the Ethel Turner Prize.
Before devoting himself to novels, Bill had a long and successful career as a writer of short stories, plays and poetry for young people. His work encompasses many genres and he has more than one hundred titles to his credit. He lives on the south coast of New South Wales with his wife, the well known children's author Di (Dianne) Bates.
Bill's latest book is the junior novel, The Simple Things, published in 2014.

Reviews

[Lena Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The audiobook is surprisingly good

[Kathryn O'Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up looking for a quick read to explore with a Year 11 class of mostly boys. I think it will be perfect.

[Ashley Ketteridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bill Condon’s Dogs displayed the life inside a teenage boy who was faced with adversity. Both boys Hangan and Stephen where faced with many obstacles along the way including Hangan dealing with his dad. I believe that Monk had some medical problems of some sort as he lit his own house on fire, but in saying that I think he must of really deep down cared for Hangan in some sort of way although he did not show it at all. Hangan really wanted his dad to just care for him in my opinion although his dad hit him and said some cruel words to his own son. It was clear to me that Stephen and his dad Ray had a strong bond, although I was not sure about what had happened to his mother. The character Lorna was a strong willed woman who I thought most of the time brought out the best in Monk. I was unsure however if there was a connection between Ray and Lorna or it was just a tight bond of a friendship. I found that ‘Dogs’ was a quick read and once you get into it you cannot put it down. The author Bill Condon of Dogs was an Honour Book in the Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards. Condon was born in 1949 and lives with his wife Dianne (Di) Bates. A chance meeting with Larry Rivera, the editor of a local weekly newspaper, led Bill into a career as a journalist. Throughout those years Bill was also writing for children, following the example of his wife Di, who is a well-known children's author. About ten years ago Bill left journalism to devote himself full-time to writing for children. My opinion of Bill Condon’s style is to write short but descriptive. As he doesn’t drag it out too much and makes it short and quick to the point. I thought that this book was interesting but wasn’t the genre I like to read.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dogs first was first published in year 2000 in Australia and New Zealand. The protagonist in the book would have to be Stephen and monster because the book is called dogs and Stephen is the one telling the story to us. The book tells us how some teenagers live hard. One of the other character was good friends with Stephen was Hanghan which they both hurdled over obstacles in the story which didn't help with Monsters success. Hanghan's dad Monk had some medical condition I think which made him light a block of grass on fire. Stephen and his dad Raymond had a good father son relationship compared to Hanghan and Monk. Near the end of the book I thought Lorna (Monks girlfriend) and Monk were going to end their relationship. Also at the end of the book I wasn't too sure weather Lorna and Raymond liked each other or they had a really good friendship. When I started reading in class it was hard to stop reading it so had to take it home and read some because I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. In the end it was a good book about to young teenagers.

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deservedly won book of the year. One of my favourite ever YA reads. I read all of Bill Condon’s books after Dogs.