Author(s): Mal Peet

Young Adult | Dyslexia-friendly | Adventure | Social Issues & Relationships

Sandie has been battling it since childhood: the hulking, snarling black dog of her nightmares. For years, her precious pet dog Rabbie has kept the monster at bay, but when he is no longer there to protect her, the black dog reappears to stalk Sandie in her sleep... Illuminating the undeniable power of Mal Peet's pared-back prose, Good Boy is an evocative examination of fear and anxiety that will leave you guessing long after its final page.

This book has a dyslexia-friendly layout, typeface and paperstock so that even more readers can enjoy it. It has been edited to a reading age of 8 and is aimed at readers aged 14+. Content may be unsuitable for younger readers.

Review: "There are many writers who can take you inside a nightmare. It takes Mal Peel to show you the way back out" -- Frank Cottrell Boyce
"A beautiful book ... simple but profound" -- Just Imagine
"Peet pulls no punches in exploring the life and mind of a teen suffering from anxiety. The engaging, sparsely written narrative is suspensful and keeps the reader guessing all the way. Shoard's haunting, murky illustrations work perfectly. A super-readable, unnerving work that stands with the late Peet's best" -- CBI, Recommended Reads

Prizes: Nominated for Kate Greenaway Medal 2020.

Author Biography: MAL PEET was a multi-award-winning novelist best known for his young adult fiction, including Keeper, Tamar, and Exposure. His novels were nominated for and won several awards including the Carnegie Medal, the Branford Boase Award, and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. In 2017 his final novel Beck was nominated for the Carnegie Medal. Mal passed away in 2015.
EMMA SHOARD is an illustrator and printmaker who graduated in 2011 from Kingston University's Illustration & Animation course. She also works part-time as a bookseller for Daunt Books. In 2018 Emma was longlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal for her illustration of Siobhan Dowd's The Pavee and the Buffer Girl.