THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE BEAGLE

The furry answer to one girl's questions about everything.

Twelve-year-old Veronica Morgan gets a headache every time she tries to look on the bright side of things. At her schmanzy new girl's school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, she's slogging her way through a social landscape that is hopelessly confusing and endlessly agonizing. At home, she's under constant analysis by her two loving but relentlessly probing psychiatrist parents. What Veronica really wants is a dog - and when a lemon beagle puppy named Cadbury comes bounding into her life, she is more than happy to try to turn her back on everyone who worries her so much. But a wonderful pet, Veronica finds, is no replacement for meaningful friendship, especially when something happens to make her really need a true friend - if only she can be one herself first.