Noe’s Comics Nook: Stray Dogs

Review

Combine “All Dogs Go to Heaven” with your favorite serial killer film and you’d be approaching the mix of joy and horror you’re in store for with Stray Dogs. If that sounds weird but also too good to be true, I get your skepticism! I was also skeptical but I was so, so wrong, because this comic hits every note just right – from the pacing, to the coloring, to making you want to jump into the page to protect every furry friend you’ve just been introduced to, it is all there.

When Sophie comes to a new home, with no memory of what happened, how she got there, or who any of these countless other dogs are, she has no idea that she’s about to uncover a horrible secret – and set off a chain reaction among her new canine family. Throughout the comic, we slowly uncover more and more about each dog’s history and what is going on. As the stakes get higher, your attachment to these fictional dogs is certain to grow. A panel near the end of the book featuring a police dog asking, “Wait, are you guys okay?” broke my heart.

With loveable characters, a who-done-it mystery pacing, and a fascinating exploration of canine memories, Stay Dogs is going to pull readers right in and never let them go.

Elements of Story

Plot: When Sophie finds herself in a new home, surrounded by unfamiliar dogs, and without her memory, she panics – but that panic is nothing compared to what’s in store once her memory starts coming back.

Characters: Sophie, Rusty, Victor, Gucci, Henry, Henry, Aldo, Roxanne, Killer, Imogene, Earl, Master, Sophie’s Lady, Police Dog

Major Settings: Master’s House, including sun room, back yard, forbidden room, Master’s room

Themes: Memory, loss, loyalty, grief

Lesson Plan Idea Using Common Core Standards (CCS) CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.3 – Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

Directions: Stay Dogs has a huge cast of characters for such a short comic and many of them change mindset rapidly over the course of the comic. Choose one of these characters and analyze their point of view throughout the comic, noting what caused the change (new information, new connections, etc.)

and how that change of perspective helped drive the plot of the story. Length of this analysis should be at least two pages, but may require more depending on which character is chosen.