Hotel for Dogs

Hotel for Dogs

Lois Duncan

Houghton Mifflin, 1971

165 pages

Grades 3-6

Animal Story

Andrea and her family must move from New Mexico to Elmwood, New Jersey to live with ancient Aunt Alice while Dad trains for a new job. Because Aunt Alice is allergic, Andi must leave her beloved dog behind with neighbors until they have their own place. She misses her pet so much that when a small dog shows up looking homeless she wants to take care of her. Meanwhile, Andi's brother Bruce attempts to befriend the neighbor boy next door, only to find Jerry a bully. Jerry is cruelty trying to train his Irish Setter, Red Rover, but only frightening the poor dog. When Red Rover runs away, Bruce is determined not to return the abused pet to his mean neighbor. Where can the kids stash these dogs where they won't bother Aunt Alice? They finally chose the abandoned house down the street to keep the undercover pets. Bruce lets a new friend in on the secret and the two boys begin raking leaves in order to raise money for dog food. More friends-and more dogs-enter the situation, finally creating the Hotel for Dogs. Naturally, the hotel can't go on forever without detection. How will they be discovered and what will be the consequences?

This is not a new book. In fact it is quite an old book, older than I thought at first glance. I remember reading it as a child a long time ago and liking it, but can't recall the details. I decided to give it another crack to see if it is still relevant for today's readers to possibly use for a book discussion group comparing the story to the movie released in 2009. Yes, the book is very different from the movie and in my opinion better. (which is always the case, isn't it?) And yes, the book is also very dated in spots. The technology is different (do today's kids even know what a slide projector is?), boys and girls conform to traditional gender roles, and the kids have a ton of freedom to run around the neighborhood. The most glaring difference is the lack of animal shelters. The children must find their own solutions for rehousing the dogs. Animal abuse in 1971 was apparently allowed and there is talk of drowning unwanted puppies, which is now illegal. That said, the book is fun, reads quickly, and has kid appeal. The children develop their own solutions to problems until the jig is up and they must have adult intervention, which helps to solve the problem. Will I use the title for book group? Still unsure, but I would recommend it to young readers-with a caveat that things were different in "the good old days".