Book Review - Faith P

Book review of ‘The boy in the dress’ by David Walliams

The story is of a 12-year-old boy named Dennis and his 14-year-old brother John. The boys lived with their dad, he eats a lot after his wife leaves him. Dennis is good at football and is one of the best on his team. Dennis misses his mum, who left about five years ago, he keeps remembering a yellow dress his mum used to wear in an old picture.

One day, Dennis sees the same dress on the cover of a magazine, and buys a copy from Raj, the shop owner. His dad finds the magazine and is not happy. One day, at school his brother John teases him and calls him "Denise". Dennis is given detention for kicking a football through a window. When he is in detention, he talks to a girl named Lisa James, the prettiest and favourite girl in the school. Lisa takes him over to her house and dresses him up in girls’ clothing. Dennis puts on a blue dress and they both go out, he now is known as "Denise", a French student who doesn’t speak much English. They go to the corner shop and Raj does not recognise Dennis, now they know he can be Denise, he goes to school with Lisa - as "Denise".

Dennis kicks a football and falls which now shows him as a boy. He gets expelled from the school for being in a dress. When he gets home his dad sends him to his room. Dennis’s best friend Darvesh, comes to see him, but Dennis’s dad won’t let him see him. Dennis goes to a football match on Saturday, where his entire team tells him to play in a dress and team wins. Dennis's dad watches the match and forgives Dennis. On a Sunday morning, Raj tells Dennis that Mr Hawtrey's the headmaster’s sister, Doris, buys the newspaper now instead of him. He also tells him that there was something funny about her. Lisa and Dennis go to Raj's shop and find out that Doris is actually Mr Hawtrey in a skirt. The two threaten Mr Hawtry that Dennis should be allowed back to the school, if not they will tell everyone of Mr Hawtrey's different dressing, he agrees to let Dennis back.

At the end of the story, Dennis, his dad, and his brother have a better family life and remember the happy times of their mum. Dennis and Lisa stay friends.