When a stray dog follows Clarice Bean home, she decides it's up to her to take care of him. Now all she has to do is figure out how to keep him a secret from the rest of the family . Nothing ever happens except for sometimes. And only on rare-ish occasions, which is hardly ever. It is sweltering hot, and Clarice Bean is bored, and boredom can lead to trouble, and trouble can lead to people getting very mad at you. Not good when the person who's mad at you is your sister and she has the thing you want most of all: a pair of roller skates. How can Clarice make things right when there's this dog who won't stop following her around? Doesn't he have a home of his own to go to? She's told him to scram, but he just won't listen. Find out in this story from the inimitable Lauren Child of falling out with a sister, falling in with a dog, and doing everything wrong, only to find you've got everything right.