Who's in Charge (Stella Batts)

Children's Literature
- Heidi Hauser Green
Stella's best friend Evie is heading out of town with her parents for a long weekend visiting friends in England when they find themselves without a dogsitter for their beloved Maltese named Bella. Stella offers to take care of the puppy while they're away, and her grandmother says it's ok. While Stella's mom is not thrilled when she finds out about the plan—the family is still adjusting to the arrival of Baby Marco—Stella promises to be responsible for her puppy pal. Of course, things do not go as planned. In an unfortunate turn of events, Bella runs away. Although the book is far from pedantic, readers will connect the dots: focused on being "in charge" of Bella, Stella lost sight of the fact that her dad was "in charge" of her, and this created the situation in which Bella runs.