Stella

ETA: Apparently this is the book which was switched into the Nominee list instead of The List of Things That Will Not Change. I was made to read this book because of homophobia!

1.5/5 stars

This is a Golden Sower Chapter Book Nominee for 2022-23, which is why I picked it up as I'm not typically into books with animal narrators. Read attentively up to 65%, skimmed the rest; I would have left it without a star rating, but I grew impatient with the handling of language in this book and would like to leave a note about that in particular. I know this book is not really for me.

Stella is narrated in first-person present-tense from the perspective of a dog. Stella doesn't understand human language aside from certain phrases, like her name, commands, and foods. She mostly makes sense of what humans and other animals are saying through body language, smells, tone of voice, etc. But human dialogue is rendered in plain English - not, for example, italicized, or left indirect - so a reader will frequently have situations where they 1) read and understand what a human character is saying, 2) have it reinforced in the prose with Stella's reading of sight and sounds, and then 3) have Stella misunderstand the situation and react at odds. There is dramatic irony and then there is cognitive disconnect. Basic communication problems as a plot device are for sure a pet peeve of mine, but I really wonder at the editor's choice here, especially since Stella frequently talks about how human communication is weird to her, and she wishes she could understand them or speak with them, and there's even a moment where she tried. To top it off near the end of the book Spoilerher old trainer, Connie, appears in a metaphysical haze and speaks to Stella which not only broke my immersion but exasperated my major complaint to another degree.