How to Steal a Dog (Frances Foster Books an imprint of FSG, 2007) by Barbara O’Connor is winning awards: Kansas’ William Allen White Award (3rd-5th grade book) and the South Dakota Children’s Prairie Pasque Award.
“The day I decided to steal a dog was the same day my best friend, Luanne Godfrey, found out I lived in a car.” How can you not read on after reading that line? The rest of the book holds up to that beginning, too.
Good story about what happens after a father abandons his family and truthful look at the struggles (laundry, hygiene, food, frustration). Georgina tries to fix their homelessness herself. We see her bad attitude towards her mother, how her little brother figures out things she should have, and her notebook about how to steal a dog. Through the help of a bum, Georgia learns about forgiveness.
Barbara O’Connor has published 8 novels and 6 biographies. Read more about her here.