Барбара О'Коннор – лучшие книги

У одиннадцатилетней Чарли есть одно Желание, которое она уже целый год загадывает каждый день – когда сдувает одуванчик, когда видит на часах 11:11, когда доедает последний кусочек пирога.. Она мечтает о настоящей Семье. Она не верит, что жизнь с тётей и дядей в захолустном городке приближает исполнение её Желания. Но вскоре она обретает новых друзей – бездомного лохматого пса и соседского мальчика Говарда – и они помогают ей понять, что нужно жить настоящим и верить только в хорошее.

Owen Jester wishes his family hadn't moved to his grandfather's house after his dad lost his job. For one thing, his grandfather's live-in nurse sure knows how to ruin anyone's idea of a good time. And then there's Viola, the girl next door, who can't ever mind her own business. She even thinks Owen should put his freshly captured bullfrog back into the pond. Then late one night, Owen hears a curious noise when the train passes by his grandfather's house. Something mysterious and wonderful has fallen off the train. When Owen finally discovers what it is, he realizes he just might need a know-it-all after all. But can he trust Viola keep the most fantastic secret to ever tumble into Carter, Georgia?

"Half of me was thinking," Georgina, don't do this. Stealing a dog is just plain wrong. "The other half of me was thinking," Georgina, you're in a bad fix and you got to do whatever it takes to get yourself out of it.

Georgina Hayes is desperate. Ever since her father left and they were evicted from their apartment, her family has been living in their car. With her mama juggling two jobs and trying to make enough money to find a place to live, Georgina is stuck looking after her younger brother, Toby. And she has her heart set on improving their situation. When Georgina spots a missing-dog poster with a reward of five hundred dollars, the solution to all her problems suddenly seems within reach. All she has to do is "borrow" the right dog and its owners are sure to offer a reward. What happens next is the last thing she expected.

With unmistakable sympathy, Barbara O'Connor tells the story of a young girl struggling to see what's right when everything else seems wrong.

"How to Steal a Dog" is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.