It’s not easy being poor. And it’s even harder when you’re a kid who has been evicted from her home and has to live in her car with her mother and brother. Georgina Hayes washes up for school in the gas station bathrooms in the mornings before school as her mother works two jobs. It’s hard to keep this all a secret in a small town in North Carolina especially from her best friend.
Until one day Georgina comes up with a plan — steal a dog, get the reward for the missing dog, and move into a house. She scouts around for the perfect dog to steal and finally founds lovable and smart Willy.
Stealing a dog is a bit more complicated than Georgina counts on even if she did create a step by step guide. Author Barbara O’Connor tells a poignant story that has you rooting for Georgina even if she does something wrong to make things in her life right. She doesn’t wrap up the story by making the family financial problems magically go away either. Georgina grows up in the course of this story and learns a good rule from an unexpected teacher: Sometimes, the more you stir it, the worse it stinks.
