THE WAY OF DOG

A brilliant middle-grade novel from multi-award-winning author Zana Fraillon. The story is told from the perspective of a dog named Scruffity who is born into the cruel world of a puppy farm. With a unique voice, the story follows his journey to find a home after a boy befriends him and helps him escape.

Scruffity is born into the harsh, grey world of a puppy farm. Taken from his mamma and locked in a concrete cage, what he yearns for most is Family. To belong is The Way of Dog. But no one wants him.

Just as his chances of adoption grow dangerously thin, Scruffity is set free by a boy as unwanted and lonely as he is. Outside, Scruffity learns all about The Way of Dog - it is to run, to dig, to howl and, biggest of all, to love. But when tragedy strikes, Scruffity is suddenly all alone.

How does a dog find his way home when he never had one to begin with?

Clair Hume, Publisher, UQP:
"Every so often a story comes along that genuinely surprises me and this was one of them. With insightful observations on nature, humanity, and what it means to belong, this story of a forgotten dog and a lonely boy is marvellous. The writing is original and clever, and the animalistic frankness in the voice is beautifully grounded. Zana had been wanting to write from the perspective of a dog ever since she had trained her own dog to assist her daughter with tic fits from Tourette's Syndrome. As Zana says, 'Scruffity leapt into my head and refused to budge. It didn't matter that I was knee-deep in a manuscript already, I couldn't get Scruffity out of my head. And suddenly verse fit. Why should dogs talk like people? Dogs have their own rhythm and time."