I really enjoyed reading Barbara O'Connor's How to Steal a Dog, a chapter book geared toward  middle to upper elementary - middle school readers about a girl named Georgina Hayes.

I love great first lines in novels and O'Connor doesn't disappoint: "The day I decided to steal a dog was the same day my best friend, Luanne Godfrey, found out I lived in a car." 

Georgina doesn't want to steal a dog, which she knows is wrong, but after seeing a $500 reward poster that gave her the idea, she figures it might be the only way she can come up with enough money to enable her mother find them somewhere to live.

Georgina, her mother, and her little brother Toby lost their apartment after their father left without a good-bye. Georgina's mother is working two jobs and the kids are trying their best to manage: eating out of a cooler in the car and using gas station and restaurant restrooms for washing up before school. Georgina begins her plan of stealing a dog by writing down step-by-step instructions. She lets her brother in on the plan and they find the perfect dog to steal: Willy, a little mutt terrier whose owner adores him.

After they befriend the owner, Camilla, the kids learn she isn't rich (like they thought), they undertake the uncomfortable role of helping her find her dog. Georgina then has to figure out how to resolve this mess she has created.

This book deals with some serious issues....but is written in a very relatable and light-hearted way. You will be rooting for Georgina, just as much as you will be wanting little Willy home again.