Notes from a Liar and Her Dog Review

Manufacturer: Listening Library
Author(s): Gennifer Choldenko

ISBN: 080720434X EAN: 9780807204344
Binding: Audio Cassette
Reading Level: Ages 4-8

Average Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Read by Ari Meyers
approx. 6 hours
4 cassettes

For Antonia MacPherson, lying is a way of life. It's what works best when you are a weed in a family of roses. No matter what she does, her mother thinks she's wrong. Her older sister, Your Highness Elizabeth, (as Ant calls her) says Ant's best friend, Harrison, stinks, and her younger sister, Katherine the Great, takes notes on Ant's bad behavior to report back to their mother. The only family member to whom Ant admits to being related is Pistachio, her dog. A clever, resourceful and very funny liar, Ant sticks to her own moral code that gives Pistachio and Harrison precedence over all other living creatures. But when a concerned teacher sees the truth behind Ant's humor and lies, it seems Ant and her mother may be in for a showdown.

User Submitted Notes from a Liar and Her Dog Reviews

December 14, 2007
Wonderful book;good lesson learned
Book Review on
Notes from a Liar and Her Dog
By: Susanna Nicole Cobb
Gennifer Choldenk is the author of Notes from a Liar and Her Dog. I think but I'm not positive that this book is realistic fiction.
Antonia MacPherson thinks that lying is the way of life. Antonia's life would be miserable if it weren't for her best friend Harrison and a "minute ball of fluff" named Pistachio. No matter what she does whether it is right or wrong, her mother thinks she is either lying or is wrong. Her younger sister, "Katherine the Great" is taking notes on Ant's misbehaviors that she keeps in a spiral notebook for her parents. Her older sister, "Your Highness Elizabeth" says that Ant is training to be a juvenile delinquent, her best friend (Harrison) smells like a salami sandwich, and the "minute ball of fluff" should be put out of his misery. Who will listen to an Ant when EVERYONE in his family has nothing but royal opinions against her? (Read the book to find out!!)
This book is best suited for grades third to middle school. Maybe even your reading level! I liked this book because it teaches a lesson to people. It teaches people not to lie and that lying is NOT the way of life. This book was great! There's nothing

March 9, 2007
Notes from a Lair and Her Dog
You should read this book because it is very intresting. If you start reading it you might not want to put it down it is very fascinating because it talks about a girl who is different. She feels left out and no one understands her. Her name is Ant she is trying to get away from many things. She just can't stand some people. Read this enjoyable story you will really like it.

February 9, 2006
MariahWindsorSenorJrSchool
hey this book was very good it was about friend ship caring and all of that stuff but any way it was very good I thougt and if you don't WHAT EVER THATS COOL FOR YOU right but if you like good and funny book here is one so read it's very good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
???????READ THE BOOK??????

October 29, 2005
Notes from a liar and her dog
The book was great and I think it would be a good book to write about. It's each girl's point of view of their life. This would be a good young ladies book.
I liked it because it was telling about each of the girl's personalities. I didn't like how Anotonia's sisters like to spy on her.
I like the Charcter Antonia MacPherson because she's different from everyone in her family and she always does something exciting.
An exciting scene was when carol says "you're been telling people your adopted... that your real parents are going to come and take you away from your real life."
I like it because she's expressing her feelings.
Somethings i didn't like that some of the chapters are short and it repeats alot of stuff.
I recommened this book because i like that they use to be good friends, but then she started writing bad stuff about her friends.That's why they didn't want to be friends.

October 14, 2005
best book ever
The book I'm doing this book review on is Notes from a Liar and Her Dog written by Gennifer Choldenko. Antonia MacPherson is a 12 year girl who thinks she was adopted. Her mom doesn't believe anything she says. Her art teacher, who likes being called just Carol, believes her and gives her a chance. She tries to change Ant and make her start telling the truth. I read this book because it sounded funny. I recommend this book to anyone who likes funny books.
The book has a lot of unique characters. The book became funny because of these characters. The moments of this book are realistic and you can relate to them. Antonia's believes that "you can't waste the truth on people who won't understand". Harrison is Antonia's best friend and Harrison has a chicken that can use the litter box. The reason I think Harrison is cool because I like chickens. The one thing I don't like about this book is why there's an art teacher in Ant's business. I don't like that because I think it's an invasion of privacy and I don't like it when people are in my business.
This book was awesome because it's funny and Harrison has a chicken. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes funny books.

October 5, 2005
The Best book ever
The book I read called 'Notes From A Liar And Her Dog" by Gennifer Choldenko is a really good book. There are 27 chapters in the book but you have to read them all to find out what happens in the end. In this book there is a girl who's name is Antonia. She lives with what she calls the MacPherson family. There is her older sister Elizabeth who is 14, her mom, dad, and her younger sister Katherine. She also has a dog-named Pistachio.
Well in the begging she claims that her family is her fake parents and that her real parents are going to come get her one-day. She has a friend called Harrison, they both live on Sara's road. Her nickname is Ant. Well her family has always moved around and the house they live in right now is the one they have lived the longest. Well one day her and Harrison were invited to go to the zoo with a teacher. Except she had to take her dog with her because he was sick and she had to give him his pills. Well the teacher they go with finds out she has her dog with her because it goes in the lion's cage and almost gets eaten. Then they get taken again and it happens again and the teacher their with gets fired for not telling the head worker person. Then Ant spends a lot of time at home. During this period of time she works out all her problems with her mom and sisters since they all used to fight. Then one day her dad comes home and says if quit his job. Well usually this meant they were going to move again. So Antonia went and talked to her sister about it and her sister Elizabeth told her what she should say to their mom and try to get her to talk to their dad. Well she does and her mom gets her dad to not move.

May 30, 2005
Richie's Picks: NOTES FROM A LIAR AND HER DOG
(If you are now checking out this book because of having read Gennifer's Newbery Honor book, AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS,you've made an excellent move. NOTES FROM A LIAR AND HER DOG made my Best of 2001 list and it was the best first novel I read that entire year. Having booktalked it (particularly to fifth and sixth graders)for the past four years now, I've had exceptionally positive feedback.)

At the conclusion of the first chapter of NOTES FROM A LIAR AND HER DOG, the Assistant Principal asks Ant (Antonia MacPherson) to relay the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf:

"I run my tongue over my teeth. 'Some kid pretended he saw a wolf a bunch of times, and everyone came to help him. Then when he really saw the wolf, they all thought he was kidding and they didn't come, and the wolf ate him.'

'That's right. And what do you think the boy learned?' Mr. Borgdorf asks.

'He didn't learn anything. He's dead.'

Mr. Borgdorf's eyes flash angry. His lips roll in. 'Fair enough. But why? What was the mistake he made?'

I blow my hair off my forehead and consider the question. 'He was stupid. He shouldn't have expected anyone to help in the first place. He should have handled the wolf by himself. That's what I would have done.' "

And that is what Ant is all about--taking matters into her own hands because she truly doesn't trust the adults and other kids in her life. She sees her mother as believing that she is wrong and/or lying, no matter what she does. Her younger sister (Katherine the Great) takes notes on Ant's misdeeds, while her older sister (Her Royal Highness Elizabeth) insists she's working on becoming a juvenile delinquent. The one person she does trust is her friend Harrison Emerson, the character who continues haunting my thoughts in this wonderfully funny and deceptively complex first novel by Gennifer Choldenko.

"My mom hates Harrison because he eats with his mouth open, walks his pet chicken on a leash, and because he's always scratching at something. I'm not friends with Harrison because my mom doesn't like him, though. I'm friends with him because I like him. That my mom doesn't like him is something extra, like a bonus."

In the story, Harrison and Ant are taken under wing by their art teacher who sees the saving graces in the two of them. Ant's father's career changes have frequently uprooted the family in the past and once again threaten upheaval. There are the health issues of Ant's beloved very funky little old dog. (And there are even a bunch of wild animals.) But most importantly there are situations resulting from Ant's 'self-reliance' which run from the legally and morally appalling, to the heartwarming, to the horrifically heart-stopping.

Because the story is told from Ant's egocentric perspective, the truth is never entirely clear. After reading the book and getting my wife (the middle school English teacher) to read it, we had enthusiastic debates about whether Ant had ever given us an honest picture of the other characters. (Indeed, I would just love to see Harrison Emerson reemerge from another perspective in a later book.)

April 19, 2005
Deviance Illuminated and Appreciated
Apt is the protagonist's nickname, "Ant." Her contrast with her siblings and the conformists at school make her seem insignificant. Quite the contrary. She and her eccentric friend, Harrison, have much to teach all of us about appreciating differentness.

The angst for Ant in not being honored by her family made it troubling for me to want to continue reading. I'm glad I did. Choldenko avoids a "happily ever after" resolution; keeping perspective with what characterizes growth and reconciliation for people in conflict. Wisecracks and some of Ant's humorous foibles help take away some of the sting.

Liar and Her Dog is a remarkable book--full of wisdom for reader's of all ages for the message of toleration that we all need reminders about in our life's journey.

Quite simply, it's an incredibly artful debut novel.

March 21, 2005
Functioning Among the Dysfunctional
Antonia (Ant) MacPherson is coping with a highly disfunctional family. The second of three girls, she is the opposite of her older sister, Elizabeth, 14 and younger sister Kate, 8. Elizabeth looks down on Ant and Kate keeps a notebook of Ant's misdeeds and blackmails Ant out of her allowance. Ant looks nothing like her sisters who are pampered into ultra-indulgence by their mother. I admit I could not stand their mother at all and derived a wicked pleasure that Ant didn't like her either.

At the story's opening, Ant is called into the principal's office after she tells her art teacher she is adopted. Naturally Ant squirms at being called on the carpet, but even more so at having her mother present. I thought it served the mother right when Ant kept insisting she was adopted. I just loved the way Ant interpreted that tired, cliche story of the boy who cried wolf. Her principal told her to relate that story and asked her what lesson the boy learned. Ant's logical response was "Nothing. He's dead." I thought that was an excellent answer. When asked what the boy should have done, Ant said that he was stupid for expecting people to help in the first place and that had she been in his shoes, she would have handled that wolf by herself. Ant's interpretation of this shopworn story was logical and delightfully perceptive.

In fact, Ant does more than handle a wolf by herself. She saves her dog's life by sneaking him to a vet and lying about her address so as to dodge the bills; she, along with her art teacher and best friend Harrison (probably named for George Harrison) spend Saturdays at a local zoo as zookeepers' helpers where she bravely saves her chihuahua mix from becoming lion food.

I didn't like Ant's sisters or parents at all. When Ant's father, an errant insurance salesman who lies about where he has been working praised the oldest and youngest daughters for their ballet, he stumbles offering predictions of Ant's future. When one of the snotty sisters suggests Ant will become a juvenile delinquent, they all laugh at her. I didn't like that.

I loved it when Ant and her friend Harrison switch report cards because she wanted him to get better grades. A bright, artistic boy raised by a loving, widowed father, Harrison and Ant form a strong allegiance that includes their art teacher. When Ant's mother discovers the switch, it was hilarious because naturally she did not expect Ant to earn top grades.

Ant's mother is a real thorn in everybody's collective side. She makes it plain she'd rather attend one of Elizabeth's many dance recitals than Ant's Mathathon wherein Ant won the district trophy; she even tells Ant that she prefers the other girls and closes with "who wouldn't?" No wonder Ant could not abide her. I also didn't like the way Ant's father didn't even try to attend her Mathathon or even realize why it would be important to her to have somebody there regardless of what she said. I loved it when Ant challenged her mother when she told Ant she could not attend the Mathathon by saying that of course she could not be there and that she was "just agreeing" with her. After all, the mother said she had to attend Elizabeth's recital. I also loved the art teacher and thought she handled Ant's mother with grace and charm.

An excellent, tautly written work for all ages, this book will leave readers thinking for a long time. This is an author to watch for - I hope she'll be turning out more books.

December 13, 2004
Really delightful for adults and children alike
How often do you find a book that is written in exquisitely simple language and yet is psychologically very engaging? I must admit I don't read children's books a lot but I got this for my students.

Choldenko really gets inside the head of her heroine Ant MacPherson, who is convinced that the people she lives with are not her real family at all. The alienation from her parents and two sisters is so strong that the reader really feels for her, yet the overwhelming desire to understand the bizarre situation keeps you reading on.

The character development all around is magnificent, from Ant's super-lovable best friend Harrison to her miniature dog Pistachio to her teacher, her aloof Cinderella-style cruel sisters, her parents and Ant herself. This is also a book for dog lovers, who will understand the kind of bond that Ant shares with little Pistachio.

The only weakness in the book is that it gets a little pedestrian for a while during the first third, but really picks up and turns into a page-turner after that. Amazing work.

For more Notes from a Liar and Her Dog reviews click here.