No More Dead Dogs

Written by: Gordon Korman

First line: When my dad was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, he once rescued eight Navy SEALS who were stranded behind enemy lines.

Why you should read this book. Scarred by his father's pathological need to lie about everything, middle school jock Wallace Wallace becomes a compulsive truth teller, to the point that he's now looking at indefinite detention because he refuses to say anything nice about his English teacher's favorite book. Banned from football practice and forced to attend rehearsals of a play based on said book, Wallace finds his alliances shifting as his teammates become frustrated with him and the drama kids start to warm up to his ideas. It's a lot of silliness punctuated by bouts of seriousness, good for a wide age range of young readers.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're one of those English teachers who possesses the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about every book you've ever taught, and you brook no dissension from your ignorant students.