Question: 80's Teen, wants to adopt dog on tv with one eye, older sister (?) has baby, reads Dr. Spock, boyfriend's grandfather goes missing

Asked by portermd on Sat 25, Jun 2011 10:12pm :

Sorry for the sketchy details...these are the ones i can remember.

I think i read in late 80's.  Highschool girl.  There is a baby who i think
is her older sisters.  Dr. Spock is mentioned a lot.  Someone (grandma?)
wants to feed baby mashed potatoes...and does.  Girl stabs herself in the
finger with pencil in french class and tries to say i am bleeding to death
in french.  Sees an ad on tv about dog with one eye she wants to adopt. 
Her friend (boy, but might not have been boyfriend until end of book) has a
grandfather or might have been grandmother with dementia who goes missing
and everyone rallies together to find him(or her) at the end.  I also think
the girl describes herself as a latchkey kid.  

Comments:

Comment by bookel on Sun 26, Jun 2011 06:24am:

Is this what you're looking for? Found it on books.google.com

The
Leftover Kid
by Carol Snyder - 1987 - 158 pages 
The only child left
at home, thirteen-year-old Wendy enjoys a peaceful existence until her
married brother, his wife, and their baby, followed by a computer and,
then, her grandparents, all move in.

Snyder, Carol THE LEFTOVER KID
Pacer/Putnam $13.95 7/17 Ages 10+ LC 85-29878 CIP / I Wendy Meyer's life
changes overnight from a latch-key kid to one living in a house full of
visiting and intruding relatives. All she really wanted was to adopt a
dog. Wendy feels like the "leftover kid" — getting leftover time,
...

http://www.amazon.com/Leftover-Kid-Carol-Snyder/dp/0448477734