Stay by Bobbie Pyron

In Stay 11-year-old Piper Trudeau's family has recently become homeless. The story begins with the family moving into a homeless shelter in a new city. While her parents look for work, Piper must adjust to life without a home...standing in line to receive meals, sharing a bed with her younger brother Dylan, riding the "homeless" bus to her new school. One of the things she misses most about her former life is her Firefly Troop, the girl scout troop she belonged to back home.

Things begin to look up for the Trudeau family when they are accepted into a family shelter that sponsors Firefly Troop 423. Finally Piper is able to make friends who understand her situation because they are in the same situation themselves. She also begins to notice and even befriend some of the homeless people around the city, many of whom have pets. In particular, she befriends a little dog named Baby who lives in the park with his owner Jewel. One horrible day Baby and Jewel get
separated, and Piper realizes she must be the one to reunite them.

I like how the author tells her story by alternating between Piper's perspective and Baby's perspective because that helps the reader truly empathize with both characters. I also appreciate how Piper's experience with homelessness opens my eyes to the fact that people become homeless for a lot of different reasons, any one of us could become homeless during our life time, and whether we have a home or not, ALL people are worthy of love and respect.

I recommend this touching book about a compassionate hero to dog-loving students 4th grade and up.

Mrs. N.