Cocoa by Ellen Miles Read Free Book Online Page A

going to give the puppy to the first person who called. That was no good. Ms. Dobbins, the director of the local animal shelter where Lizzie volunteered every week, would never do that. If someone wanted to adopt a pet from Caring Paws, theyhad to fill out a long application with lots of information about who they were, where they lived, and how they planned to take care of the animal that was about to become part of their family. Ms. Dobbins didn’t just let anyone walk in, pay the adoption fee, and walk back out with a cat or dog.
    Lizzie’s aunt Amanda, who ran a doggy day-care center where Lizzie sometimes helped out, would have agreed. She had told Lizzie that responsible dog breeders never sold puppies without interviewing buyers first.
    Lizzie thought for a second. Then she closed the notebook in which she’d been writing her pen pal letter. She picked up the newspaper and pushed back her chair. “Mom,” she yelled.
    Buddy scrabbled to his feet and followed her out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
    “Mom,” Lizzie said again as she walked into her mother’s study.
    Mom spun around on her office chair andrubbed her eyes. “What is it, honey?” she asked. She looked tired. Mom had been working hard lately on a series of articles about older people in the community. So far she had interviewed a farmer, a husband-and-wife team who ran a flower shop, and a retired detective. She said she loved the project, but Lizzie had noticed that she often went back into her study late at night, instead of reading or watching a movie in the living room.
    “Mom, look at this ad,” Lizzie said, plopping the paper down on her mother’s lap.
    Mom picked it up and studied the classifieds. “Which one?” she asked. “The one where someone’s selling a saltwater aquarium? I don’t think we —”
    “No, this one,” said Lizzie, pointing to the ad.
    “Aha,” said Mom. “Well. I hope they find the puppy a good home.”
    “Exactly,” said Lizzie. “That’s exactly my point. It doesn’t even look like they’re trying!” Shepicked up the paper. “It’s like they don’t care who takes the puppy.”
    Mom nodded. “That’s too bad,” she said.
    “Mom?” Lizzie asked. She came over to lean on her mom’s chair. Buddy joined her, leaning against Mom’s legs.
    “Oh, no, Lizzie. You’re not thinking —” Mom started to shake her head.
    “I am,” said Lizzie. “I think we should foster this puppy.”

Don’t miss any of these other stories by Ellen Miles!
    Bandit
    Baxter
    Bear
    Bella
    Buddy
    Chewy and Chica
    Cocoa
    Cody
    Flash
    Goldie
    Honey
    Jack
    Lucky
    Maggie and Max
    Moose
    Muttley
    Noodle
    Patches
    Princess
    Pugsley
    Rascal
    Scout
    Shadow
    Snowball
    Sweetie
    Ziggy



Copyright © 2011 by Ellen Miles. All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
    Cover art by Tim O’Brien
Original cover design by Steve Scott
    First printing, December 2011
    e-ISBN 978-0-545-46990-6
    All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.