It is a book to be read and reread. Would Gracie-the-cat be jealous if the Pyes got another pet—? That was what Jerry Pye wanted to know and what he was dreaming about as he sat with Rachel, his sister, on their little upstairs veranda. Gracie had belonged to the family for eleven years.
This was longer than Rachel, aged nine, or even Jerry, aged ten, had. The one thing that Jerry Pye wanted more than anything else in the world right now was a dog. He had the particular one picked out that he would most like to have as his own. This was not easy to do for they were all wonderful.
Jerry had chosen this certain special puppy because he was convinced he was the smartest of the new puppies. Naturally, he would love any dog he had, but imagine owning such a smart puppy as this one!
When he owned him he would teach him to heel, be dead dog, sneeze, scratch his stomach when Jerry scratched his back, beg, and walk on his hind legs. If he had this dog, that is. And he looked speculatively at Gracie-the-cat who had pushed open the screen door and was now lolling with an agreeable expression on the rope mat. It was a Friday evening and Jerry and Rachel had been sitting, reading, on the little upstairs veranda of their tall house.
If it were they would put it aside, not reading it until there was absolutely nothing else. Then, at last, they would read it. These were among their best beloved in spite of the obvious handicap. The children had read for a long time, but then it had grown dark. Now they were just sitting quietly, thinking, and watching the bats and bugs hurl themselves against the tall streetlamp which had suddenly come on and was casting a purple glow. Jerry was getting ready to bring up the matter of the dog to discuss with his sister Rachel, but first he liked to sit and dream about the wonderful idea that it was.
Rachel and Jared, called Jerry, Pye were very close companions. All the boys and girls in Grade Five said Addie Egan had cooties and she really did not have cooties at all. She does not have cooties. But then Rachel stuck up for everybody who was picked on. There was a little girl named Evvie Powers in the next block and sometimes the older boys and girls picked on her.
Come and get Evvie! Evvie just worshiped Rachel and wanted to be with her every minute. But Evvie had to be protected nevertheless. Rachel and Jerry were in the habit of having discussions as to what was the most important of anything—? For instance, in the dictionary, almost their only picture book except for Mr. For the same reason she thought London sounded more important than Paris, though Paris sounded prettier.
Their town, Cranbury, was between these two big cities. Mama was from a little town near New York, and Papa was from Boston. This made it doubly hard to choose the more important. How had Mama met Papa when they were at two different ends of the railroad? Accompanied by Estes's illustrations, this heartwarming story is a celebration of family—and of the cherished canine companions often at the heart of it. In the town of Cranbury, Connecticut, in , ten-year-old Jerry Pye and his nine-year-old sister, Rachel, wonder how their senior cat, Gracie, would react if they brought home a dog.
The one thing Jerry wants most in the world is a dog, but he wouldn't want to upset Gracie, who doesn't seem to have much use for children—or for anyone, really. These are the thoughts going through his head as he and Rachel sit on the verandah of their house and read. Jerry also reflects on Papa and Mama's romance and their arrival in Connecticut many years ago, and how the neighborhood refers to Gracie as "the New York cat," because that is where she and Papa and Mama had originally come from.
One day, Jerry's classmate, Sam Doody, informs Jerry that he needs to go into town to buy a suit, and he wants to know if Jerry would like to take over his job dusting off the pews in church, just for today. As luck would have it, Mrs.
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