Grace is the main characters from the Holly Webb book Harry the Homeless Puppy.
Harry the Homeless Puppy[]
Grace is looking up animal shelter websites on the computer and is longing to get a puppy. Her mum wants to get on the computer soon because she has to get on to the estate agent's website and see if any more flats have had come up. Grace's older brother, Danny, was thinking about a flat with a garden so they could have a dog. Then Danny sees another shelter on the site and coaxes Mum and Dad to come and look at it. The shelter lets people walk dogs, but still, Grace and Danny are still longing for a dog. Mum promises the kids to take them to the shelter later.
The next day, Mum meets Grace and Danny after school to go to the shelter. Mum jokes with Grace about going to the supermarket before going to the shelter, which winds up Grace, but they go to the shelter. At the shelter, after waiting for Sally, the manager to show them around, Grace peers through the door at all the dogs, peering back at her. She is told by Mum not to get too involved with them. Sally takes Grace, Danny, and Mum round to meet some of the dogs they would be able to walk. Grace then sees Harry, a lonely Jack Russell puppy, who isn't keen on her at first because he misses Beth, his old owner. Sally suggests Grace to spend time with Harry in the shelter so that he would get used to Grace. Grace goes into his run and watches him until Danny and Mum return.
On Wednesday, when Grace visits Harry, he stands up in his basket and she leans over so Harry sniffs her. On Friday, when Grace came again, Harry licks her fingers. On Saturday, when he is used to Grace, he sits up in his basket when she opens the run and runs over to her when she crouches down. The next Monday, Harry is curled up on Grace's lap, being stroked on the ears and being pretended that he is Grace's dog. At home, Grace is crying while knitting, thinking about Harry. When Grace looks at the new flat on the computer, she is a little bit impressed, but disappointed when it doesn't have a garden for a dog. She wanted a tiny bedroom and a garden so she could have a dog. They maybe could find the perfect flat for a dog...
The next day, when Grace was at the shelter, Sally's offers her some juice and a chocolate biscuit. Sally tells her how well she has been doing with Harry, and asks if she will miss him when he goes to a new home. Sally also lets Grace take Harry for a proper walk. While Sally goes to find Danny, Grace struggles to put Harry's lead on him, even though he refuses to keep still. When Grace and Danny take Harry for the walk, they meet Maya, Grace's best friend, and her sister. Grace lets Maya stroke Harry.
At the shelter the next weekend, Grace meets a family with a younger boy and a baby girl. They were asking if they could add Harry, but Grace admits that Jack Russells can be snappy it children bother them too much. She suggests Maggie, a really sweet and well-behaved cross-breed instead. When Grace meets Danny, she admits that Jack Russells aren't good with little children, and mostly she doesn't want Harry to go, even though she has promised not to fall in love with him. Danny tells her that he has to let Harry go, sooner or later. On Wednesday afternoon, Grace finds Harry gone and is very upset.
On Thursday, Danny tries to cheer Grace up and take her mind off Harry, even though he tries to convince her that it isn't fair on Sally or the other dogs if she doesn't go. Sally lets Grace and Danny take two dogs, Finn and Jake, for a walk in the park. Grace sees Maya over at the swings, and fibs to her that she has had a tummy bug and couldn't go to school or ballet, which just made herself feel bad. She meets Danny and Finn and admits the truth that she just ran off. She let Maya think Harry was Grace's. She would stop ballet if she explained about Harry, but that was right out of the question. Danny takes Grace over to the play area, where Maya and her sister are. Grace begins to admit the truth that she pretended Harry was hers, and when she thought he was, it was so nice.
On Saturday afternoon, Grace, Danny and Mum go to the shelter. Grace is pleased when she sees Harry back in his run, and hears that he hasn't been settling in with the Jamesons'. For the rest of the visit, Harry lies in Grace's lap. Harry then starts howling, which puts Grace in dismay. Sally brings Harry's food to calm him down, and Grace doesn't want to leave Harry. Maya and Danny come running to her worriedly. Grace starts to cry, not wanting to leave Harry, and comes to Maya, Danny and Mum. Mum tries to comfort her, but Grace is desperate. She knows she couldn't have a dog of her own, but she wants to.
Later that week, Grace and her family go to see another flat, led by Sheila, the owner. Grace hears there is a garden in the flat, and hopes to get a dog for it. Mum and Dad say that Grace can have Harry. Grace is so excited, and Mum rings the shelter, but it turns out that another family has adopted Harry. Grace is very upset, but Dad picks her up and hugs her, even though he always says she is too big for him to do that now. Danny is disappointed about Harry too.
Over a week later, Grace is sitting in her new bedroom, very sad about Harry. But on Sunday morning, Grace tries the shelter one more time. She is mainly disappointed, but then Harry turns up, and Grace is happy again. Grace adopts Harry, and Sally asks her to write a letter to Beth about how Harry is doing in his new home. When they bring Harry home, Grace gives him a dog biscuit and writes the letter to Beth.