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My Dog Is Better Than Your Dog (Crimebiters! #1)

Series: Crimebiters

by Tommy Greenwald, Illustrated By Adam Stower

Scholastic Press
October 2015

Fiction

Ages 8 – 12 . Grades 3 – 7

Lexile measure: 590L

DRA: 40

Guided Reading: Q

Jimmy Bishop loves doing 3 things:
1) Laughing at funny dog videos online,
2) watching his favorite show (Stop! Police!) on TV,
3) and reading his favorite vampire book (Fang Goodness) over and over.

His self-involved older sister and workaholic Mom think he needs to stop obsessing already! But when his Dad finally allows Jimmy to get a puppy before school starts, everything changes and Jimmy has something new to focus on: his amazing dog, Abby who seems to have some very unusual habits. She sleeps all day but is wired at night, and she runs from the garlic kelp biscuit made by Jimmy's strange new babysitter Mrs. Cragg. There's just something different about Abby. Could she possibly be...a vampire? Jimmy's best friend Irwin thinks Jimmy's being ridiculous, but then when Abby uncovers a real crime in progress and helps him become friends with an actual, human girl, even Irwin has to admit that perhaps Abby might have some super powers after all.

Tommy Greenwald

Tommy Greenwald is the author of many books for children, including the CrimeBiters! series, the Charlie Joe Jackson series, and the football novel Game Changer. This is his first series for zombies.

Adam Stower

Adam Stower has illustrated many books for children including the Crimebiters series by Tommy Greenwald. He studied illustration at the Norwich School of Art and Design and at the University of Brighton. He lives with his daughter in Brighton, England. You can visit him at www.worldofadam.com.

SELECT REVIEWS:

Praise for Crimebiters! #1: My Dog is Better Than Your Dog:

"Lively dialogue and brief chapters punctuated by Jimmy's wry observations keep the story moving swiftly, while Stower's cartoons underline the comedic wisdom of some of the facts Jimmy collects ("Fact: Adults never eat the disgusting stuff they feed you.") and the madcap action that unfolds." -- Publishers Weekly

"Who wouldn't want to read a whole series of superhero-vampire-crime-fighter-dog books?" -- Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading:

*"Hilarious... This debut is filled with passages that beg to be shared... With its subversive humor and contemporary details drawn straight from kids' worlds, this clever title should attract a wide following." -- Booklist, starred review

"This is a fun, fast-moving look at middle-school life through the eyes of a kid who would rather clean his room than pick up a book. Reluctant readers will be pleased." -- School Library Journal

"Charlie Joe's insider knowledge of the inner machinations of middle-school cliques will make younger readers smile in anticipation, and his direct address to readers makes make him feel like an older buddy showing the way... Slackers everywhere have a new, likable hero in Charlie Joe Jackson." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Greenwald pulls off a clever bit of reverse psychology in his debut, first in a series starring a cheeky middle grader who goes to great lengths to avoid reading--and whose humor and rapid-fire delivery should draw in like-minded kids." -- Publishers Weekly

TODO - RELATED RESOURCES

--- - ! "From Crimebiters #1: My Dog is Better Than Yout Dog:

\tI know what you're thinking.
\tYou're thinking that just because I love crimefighters, vampires and dogs, I made up the whole thing about having a crimefighting vampire dog.
\tWell, I didn't. It's all true.
\tThis story is so crazy that I don't think ANYBODY could have made it up. Not even Elroy Evans, writer of the greatest vampire books ever, or Stanley Murdock, creator of the greatest police show ever.
\tThe truth is that my dog Abby totally 1) saved me from my slightly crazy babysitter, 2) helped me become friends with an actual, human girl, and 3) stopped evil criminal masterminds in my very own backyard!"

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