In The Good, The Bad & the Beagle, Catherine Lloyd Burns delivers a heartfelt middle-grade novel readers won’t soon forget.

Set in Manhattan, The Good, the Bad & the Beagle is the story of feisty eleven-year-old Veronica Morgan, who believes that a furry lemon beagle from the neighborhood pet store will be the solution to the endless worries she has about life in general and friendship in particular.

This is a problem, since her bumbling psychiatrist parents won’t buy her the puppy she wants or stop meddling in her life at her challenging new school. But things never turn out the way you plan, particularly if you never stop expecting the worst to happen, and haven’t taken a chance on being a true friend yourself.

Praise for The Good, the Bad & the Beagle:

Offers a warmhearted and realistic take on love, grief, and the difficulties and rewards of making human friends. –Publishers Weekly

Readers will find [Veronica’s] journey back to contentment both fully believable and emotionally resonant. –Kirkus Reviews

Animal lovers and insecure middle-schoolers alike will connect with this realistic portrayal of tween life. –Booklist

Burns approaches serious (and less serious) topics with empathy and humor, making Veronica’s mistakes and recoveries as fun to read about as the boldest of adventures. –VOYA

Burns’s visually descriptive writing brings Manhattan and Veronica’s inner thoughts to life. –School Library Journal