Is That a Dead Dog in Your Locker?

Tardy Boys #1

by Todd Strasser

Children and Kids book. L2-5

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Chapter Books

Library Binding

First published August 1, 2006

About the author

Todd Strasser is an American author of more than 130 novels for adults, young-adults, and middle graders.

His most recent novel is Summer of '69

Booklist review: "Drugs, sex, and rock 'n' roll, those hallmarks of the summer of 1969, are all here, but there's so much more. In this loosely autobiographical novel, Strasser introduces 18-year-old Lucas, who is bright and sensitive but also a screw up…. The picture painted of the Woodstock music festival shows the dark side of peace and love, and the prevalence of drugs is on almost every page…The best part of the book, however, is the one that transcends eras: Lucas' introspection as he contemplates his place in the world."

Kirkus review: "Strasser perfectly captures the golden haze of youth and life on the cusp of adulthood. Readers fascinated with this time period will find much to enjoy... Vietnam, Woodstock, road trips, and acid trips: a sweetly bittersweet, surprising, even melancholy bildungsroman set against a world in flux. Groovy, man."

His most recent young adult novel is Price of Duty:
2018 New York Public Library Best Book for Teens
“Compact and suspenseful, the novel raises important questions about war.” – Kirkus 
“This thought-provoking book is both welcome and imperative.” – Booklist * (starred review).
"Rather than attempting to sway the reader, it offers awareness." - VOYA 
“Tightly wound and compelling ... appropriate for an older middle school and high school audience. VERDICT: Highly recommended.” – School Library Journal 

Bio: Todd was born in New York City. When he was young his parents moved to Roslyn Heights, New York (Long Island). Todd went to the I.U. Willets Elementary school and then attended the Wheatley School for junior high and high school. His best subjects were math and science. He also liked to read, but he had trouble with spelling and grammar, and didn't do well in English. His favorite sports were tennis, skiing and fishing. Todd went to college at New York University for a few years, and then dropped out. He lived on a commune, then lived in Europe where he was a street musician.

All the while, Todd wrote songs and poems and lots of letters to his friends back home. Finally he decided to try being a writer. He returned to the United States and went to Beloit College where he studied literature and writing.

After college, Todd worked at the Middletown Times Herald-Record newspaper in Middletown, New York, and later at Compton Advertising in New York City. In 1978, Todd sold his first novel, Angel Dust Blues. He used the money to start the Dr. Wing Tip Shoo fortune cookie company. For the next 12 years, Todd sold more fortune cookies than books.

Todd now divides his time between writing books and speaking at schools and conferences. When he's at home, he likes to spend time with his children and dog, Cooper. He still likes to play tennis and ski, but his favorite new sport is surfing.

Reviews

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book was really good because it was adventure and I love adventure. Even though it was adventure it was really confusing because of the smell in the locker.

[Jen Spychal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this with my daughter who is nine (at time of reading). She gave it a 2/5 because it was silly but just a little weird. she didn't love the characters and thought the book was just alright.

[Nichole.a]

The book called is that a Dead Dog in Your Looker is not my favorite book but it is a good book. On a scale of one to ten I think it is an eight. This book is reten by Todd Strasser .
It is about three boys, a girl and her nabors. One day the girl named Daisy tells the boys that she needs some help with a dog that her nabors left her to take care of. That is how they have to take the bog to school. There are a lot of problems along the way.

It gets more interesting as you get to the end so that is why my favorite part is at the end so I can’t tell you what it is or it will give the entire book away.

This book is for both the girls and the boys. It is from a boy’s point of view but it is how he thinks of all of this so that is why it is for both the girls and the boys. I hope you will give this book a try and if you do try this book then I hope that you will like the book. If you have all ready read this book then I also hope that you like it. Called is that a dead dog in your looker? By Todd Strasser. If you end up likening or loving this book then you can read the entire sires. The next book after this one is called is that a Sick Cat in Your Backpack?

[Nicole Fellows · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for a novel that was published in 2006. My little brother recommended it. He has read all of the books in this series and said they were really funny.
The story is about a group of friends who try to hide a little dog in their locker during school so they could take care of him. The only problem is that the dog only eats French Cheese which means he leaves a big stink behind wherever he goes. Because the dog smells so bad, the children are afraid that someone is going to discover him at school. Although I thought the story was a little strange, I can see how it would be very entertaining for kids. The kids are funny and get themselves into some interesting situations. I don't know if I would ever recommend it to students but I think I might keep a copy in my classroom for them to choose to read if they would like. I think a lot of kids would choose to read it just because of the creative title and cover!

[Naomi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Someone gave us this book. D was picking "the next book for Mom to read aloud," and he knew we hadn't read this one. We read it. We are done. No need to read the next on in the series. Kind of funny, mostly disgusting. Kind of annoying. Some people will love it. It had that annoying feel to it that I get when I read "Sideways Stories from Wayside School" or something. I do appreciate him not talking about underwear and other things and he probably had a lot of fun thinking this up and writing it. But we were like, "Ahem. Next...shall we read some literature?" ha! There are three Little Free Libraries. I think we'll share this book there. Daddy was like, "Yes, get it out of the house." ha! Quite awful. But we did follow the story and there was a nice little surprise or two that we hadn't anticipated, so that was fun. But yeah, done. Next.

[Ayanna]

now in the book leyton and al-ian are in the debate against barton and fibby. at first they were lossing but wen they took a break they came up with more ideas. then when it was over leyton won the debate. so then barton was mad and stole the dog. then when they got out of school barton got caught by mr. roy and he was mad. then mr. roy gave all of them tickets to his restling game except bartan. barton had tickets to wrestle mr. roy. then they had their friday party and barton still wasnt in vited.

[Chandler Corpus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this was an OK book. I loved it and i wish there was a series for this. This book was about 3 friends trying to take care of a dog and take it to school because they cant leave it at home. The school has a rule for pets which is called the NFA rule, AKA NO FURRY ANIMALS, which means they will have to hide the dog for the rest for the day. each chapter was exiting and the friends have trouble taking care of the dog because of a bully. I love this book and I think some people will like it.

[Rusty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well done! I read this book to see if I thought it would be appropriate for a young boy in our family and yes, it is. It's so much fun. It's exciting, too, with kid appropriate language, antics and experiences. Twins who are as different as they can be, a bully, a girl whose parents are flower children and a friend who is a nerd and believes in aliens are the key characters. All in all I'm glad I found this book and I like the plot as well. The author teaches a bit of vocabulary in a humorous way is a definite plus. Now on to the second in the series.

[Lisa Litberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son recommended I read this book, stating it was funny and easy to read. So while he lay at the foot of my bed reading the next book in the series, I read it. A children's book, it was deliciously easy to read, and full of puns, plays on words, gross-out humor and other entertainment worthy of a nine-year old's amusement. Fun!

Oddly enough, I had just read another book by the same author, which was about school shootings and wasn't funny at all. Who knew?...

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first read this book, I remembered that I didn't really seemed all that interested in it, until I read the first couple of page and actually started to enjoy it. Even though I read this book back in 2009, I still remember some of the characters, events, and the story plot in the whole book. My true rating though is 3.5 out of 5 stars. I didnt think it was really really good, but it was good enough for me to read the whole thing through.

[Alexxaa Magcalass]

This book is hilarious, its not my level of reading but i love reading books like these. I saw the tittle and i absolutley found it very cool to read, even though its not my level. But this was mainly about students hiding a dog in a locker. The dog smelled so bad everywhere it went so they had to do something else. You have to read to find out more!

[Mr. Coomey teacher]

Its starting out really funny the main detail is about the tardy boys having to take care of a dog that looks dead well they think that he's dead ?The whole point is that they have to take their dog to school and their is a no NFA rule (no fur animals)because of a stubborn girl named Fibby mandible is allergic to them.

[Huntleybrinkley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book read to my 9 year old. A tale of irreverence coupled with some nine year old gross out jokes stretched over a book. Would probably give it 3 1/2 stars. Hey not everything has to be great literature; sometimes things are just stupid fun. A mid-level Adam Sandler movie in book form without the sex jokes. At least my son now references toe cheese on a weekly basis.

[Taylor Cook · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this book. I found the plot ridiculous and the characters were not easy to connect to. The story line seemed very good at first, but as the story went on, the amount of ridiculous things happening got greater and greater. I would not recommend this book to anyone! I found it awful and a waste of my time to read it.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book and its sequel, Is That a Sick Cat in Your Backpack?, are books Zach picked out from a book fair, much to my dismay, but he really liked them and I found him chuckling to himself many times while reading.

[Dillon Huber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book was not that good it was to short and was not that interesting exept for the fact that the author chose to write it about a foul smelling dog and two brothers who help there friend hide the dog at school becouse there is a no furry animals rule.

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is a good book if you are going into middle school or if you are in middle school. i think more people should read it. this book is about this kid and some of his friends are keeping this dog like thing in there locker with out getting in trouble or people finding out.

[Hanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a little boring for me. It's just a stinky dog that's taken to school and the kids that brought him are in trouble. Then, they have this debate about if toe cheese is worse than french cheese, which is what the dog eats.

[Twyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book Leyton and Wayde help Daisy hide a dog at school. It is harder than they thought. When Wheezy goes missing, they are all very worried, especially if the dog's owner finds out. I learned not to lie. Auryn 12 years old, 2016

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was actually not that bad because it was funny to me.i would recommend this book to other people because its funny.this book is funny because how other people walking pass by this locker and it smells so bad but they don't know whats inside the locker.

[Yesenia gullien · Rating 5 out of 5]

i learned not to help a friend with a dog that smells like french cheese.

[Grayman]

This book is about a boy baby

[Caroline]

awesome

[Schimmel · Rating 4 out of 5]

rodrigo-it is very stinky, christophe this book is very smelly and stinky

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not extremely engaging. I believe I liked this as much as I did because I read it to my seven-year-old. He giggled himself to sleep after we finished it.

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastic book! Hilarious, funny, interesting. Recommended to people who love funny stories, and Pug Dogs. (I love Pug Dogs! I own one!)

[Sofia castillo]

funny story

[Blake G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book you should read it because it makes you wanna read more to find out what's next

[Mariah]

This book is very funny it sometimes can be alittle disturbing but is very funny!

[Ines · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a very weird book that maked me kind of want to throw up and actually see the dead dog.