How to Steal a Dog

By Barbara O’Connor

Published by Scholastic

I must now add Barbara O’Connor to my list of favorite authors.  I had read The Small Adventures of Popeye and Elvis and I had passed by How to Steal a Dog Many Times.  I must admit that I wasn’t drawn to the book because of its cover.  However, when someone told me about the plot, I knew I had to read it!

How to Steal a Dog is about Georgina, Toby, and their mother, a family who lives in their car.  Georgina wants more than anything to live in a real home so that she doesn’t have to wash up in gas stations and create a bedroom with a beach towel hanging from the car roof.  One day, she devises a plan to steal a dog and then bring the dog back to its owner once a reward is offered.  She thinks the reward will be just the amount of money her family needs to move out of the car and into an apartment.  Toby and Georgina seek out the perfect person to steal a dog from, but their plan doesn’t really going like they thought it was going to.

This book is filled with twists and turns, and just like always, Barbara O’Connor challenges us to think about economically disadvantaged people in our society.  She masterfully shines a light on them that breaks through stereotypes.  Each time I read Barbara O’Connor’s books, I connect in some way with the characters and my own life growing up in a trailer in the North Georgia mountains.

This book is a must read!

Reviewed by Mr. Plemmons