The child narrator of A Different Dog can't speak - we assume it is from a disability or a reaction to a trauma in his past. He is teased by the other kids and is a loner. On a cold winter's day, when everyone is participating in a fun run on the mountain, our narrator finds himself alone at the scene of a car accident where the driver has died. But there is a little dog in the car... What follows is a moving story of survival and redemption (and somehow humour in the midst of all that), all told in a 96-page novella.

"This is a quietly compelling, and with afterthought, immensely powerful tale... an accomplished text, which draws in reluctant readers and gets across a plethora of not just emotions, but moral dilemmas and extraordinary situations... belonging, speaking up for what's right, finding peace in friendships, and how sometimes the strongest communication is that without words." - MinervaReads blog

"Full of quiet, resilience and graceful lyricism, Jennings' humour peeks in at the end, gloriously." - Library Mice blog

"... beautifully written... has the feel of a future classic... For a short tale, it covers a huge number of very important areas including friendship, bullying, love, loss, trauma and empathy (in bucketfuls)." - Book Monsters blog

"It's only a short read but it's an intense one packed with mystery, adventure and tragedy... The writing has a sort of poetic intensity and it treats its themes of friendship, marginalisation and emotional damage seriously without being obvious or preachy... I was also struck by the dramatic art of Geoff Kelly that decorates many of the pages... they have a distinct feel of Ardizzone's hatched shading technique." - The Letterpress Project

"Compelling and tersely written – every word counts – this is a book to hold you in its thrall even after you've put it aside. Geoff Kelly's black and white illustrations are atmospheric and powerful. This is a book that deserves to be shared and discussed widely in school, at home, by teachers and other educators, those who work as speech-language pathologists." - Red Reading Hub