There are few story archetypes more classic or timeless than “a kid and their dog,” a tale that typically celebrates the bond of love and loyalty that young people form with their pups, and vice versa. However, for the titular canine of I Am Rebel, the new middle grade novel by Ross Montgomery, that bond is pressed to its limits when Rebel’s young master Tom decides to join a rebellion against a tyrannical king, and the two are separated by the dangers and horrors of civil war. We recently had the chance to talk to Ross about his new book, the unbreakable loyalty of animal companions, and finding balance while fighting tyranny.
About Ross Montgomery
Ross Montgomery started writing stories as a teenager, when he should have been doing homework, and hasn’t really stopped since. He has written over thirty books for children, including I Am Rebel, which was chosen as the Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year. He lives in London with his wife, his daughter, and their cat, called Fun Bobby.
Ross, thank you so much for joining us. Let’s dive into the questions.
Can you briefly introduce our readers to Rebel and Tom and the events that throw their idyllic life together into upheaval?
Rebel is our canine narrator — loyal, devoted, loving, not that bright, a bit of a fusspot. He lives on a farm in the middle of nowhere with his owner, 12-year-old Tom, and Rebel loves it because every single day is exactly the same. It’s all he wants! It’s different for Tom — he’s young, frustrated by the unfairness in the world around him, and sick of being stuck at the farm — he’s desperate for change. That’s what leads Tom to leave, and what leads Rebel to chase after him to bring him back!
Rebel meets a number of animal characters along his journey — some friendly and some not. What did you want these interactions to reflect to young readers about Rebel and, more generally, how we treat others in need?
Children know firsthand how it feels to be treated brusquely by strangers, but also how much it means when a stranger reaches out and helps them. That’s what I wanted child readers to think about with Rebel — he’s never left the farm, so he has no idea how the real world works and is pretty naïve. I wanted them to sympathise with him and cringe when he gets things wrong, which is more or less constantly.
Particularly interesting is the book’s subtle theme on passivism versus activism in the face of tyranny; Tom wants to stand up to King’s tyranny even if it means risking his life, but Rebel doesn’t initially understand why his owner is willing to make this sacrifice. Why do you think this conflict is particularly relevant to young readers right now?
For me, the two go hand in hand: you can’t truly care about the world unless you care about the people directly around you. Rebel cares so, so much about the things he loves: he knows exactly what he wants and how much it means. Tom is so caught up in the world that he can’t see how much that sort of thing matters, on a grander scale! I suppose I want children to pause and think about the balance between those two things: the awareness of what we already have in our lives that we love and cherish, and the fact that we all have a degree of responsibility for the world around us, even if it involves strangers who we might never meet.
I Am Rebel, and many of your other books, include canine characters or other animal companions; what draws you to write about the bond between human and animal?
Children probably have the least power of anyone in the world — I think it’s why they so often identify with animals, who also live in this world but don’t have the same control that adult humans do!
Switching gears, the Fun Facts section of your website is filled with hilarious tidbits. May we ask what you mean when you say you “have weird thumbs”?
Honestly, 50% of the kids I show my thumbs to are like “……is that it?” and the other 50% lose their minds with horror and disgust. Every single time I post a photo on social media of me holding my new book, someone will post, “What’s up with your thumbs?”
You also mention that you love connecting with readers face-to-face during school visits and festivals. Can you share an interaction that you’ve had that was particularly memorable or rewarding?
There are so, so many of them — you actually get used to them over time and forget how amazing they are, so it’s sometimes only when mentioning it to others later and seeing their responses that you realise what an incredible job it is!
I’ll give this example, only because it happened yesterday. A boy bought a copy of my picture book, The Building Boy, the story of a boy who builds a giant version of his grandmother when she passes away, which then comes to life and takes him on a journey. It’s quite old and a little younger than his age range, but that happens quite a lot — I didn’t think much of it. His teacher then came up to me and explained that the boy’s own grandmother had just recently died; the teacher had been reading The Building Boy with him to help him vocalise his thoughts and feelings around it. The fact that he’d then chosen to buy a copy of it with his own money — having already read it — is such an honour.
We always love to ask children’s authors what their favorite books were when they were young readers. Is there a book or series that you enjoyed as a child that stays with you as an adult?
I was a really avid reader, and so ended up reading older than my age range — I started reading the Discworld series when I was maybe 10, and it really blew my head wide open. I couldn’t believe that you could make a story that was beautifully written and sad and funny and wise, all at the same time.
Lastly, in honor of I Am Rebel, if you could have any species of animal companion follow you into battle, what would it be?
The obvious answer would be an armoured rhino — but I just discovered the existence of the deathstalker scorpion and I think that’s just too metal not to pick!
A huge thank you to Ross for taking the time to talk with us! Be sure to find him online at RossMontgomery.co.uk, or on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter/X. Lastly, don’t forget to add I Am Rebel to your family’s TBR list!
Looking for another impactful middle grade novel about a kid and their dog? Check out our exclusive one-on-one interview with the author of The Trouble With Heroes, Kate Messner.
To see all of our recommendations for mini bookworms, check out our Bookshop bookshelf.
