How to Steal a Dog

How to Steal a Dog is a book written by Barbara O'Connor. It was written in 2007 and also has a 2014 film adaption. Plot Georgina Hayes, her brother Toby, and their parents lived happily in an apartment in Darby, North Carolina until her father leaves their family. Their limited income results in Georgina and her family being evicted from the apartment, and since then, they have lived in their car and in poverty. Her schoolwork and social life both suffer due to this, but she doesn’t tell anyone about the circumstance. She tells her best friend Luanne Godfrey about this and urges her to keep it secret, but soon finds a way to get money and a new place to live after seeing a reward for a missing dog: Steal one, "return it", and claim the reward money, which she hopes to be five hundred dollars. Throughout the novel Georgina also writes down unofficial dog theft rules in her notebook, such as giving the dog water, food, and shelter. After roaming around the neighborhood to search for suitable dogs to steal, Georgina and Toby locate a dog named Willy, who meets several criteria in her rules. She also assumes that Carmella is rich due to the exterior of her house, and that the matter’s surname is on the street the siblings are on. Georgina’s mother manages to get an abandoned house as a temporary home, almost making Georgina abandon her plan, but it is so dilapidated it reinstates her confidence. The house is later boarded up as it turns out the owner did not want anyone there.