Wednesday

Lee, Ingrid. Cat Found.
Feral cats are roaming around Billy's town and making everyone angry, expecially Billy's father, who seems angry at everything, including Billy's mother trying to earn a degree so she can get a better job. Billy is lonely and unhappy, so when he finds a stray kitten in bad shape, he nurses it back to health and comes to take great comfort in Conga's presence. When things in the town heat up and plans are made to kill the feral cats, Billy knows that he must take action. He hides the pregnant Conga in an abandoned church, but realizes he has put her right in the path of the town members who want to shoot the cats.
Strengths: Like Dog Lost, this delivers good messages about spaying and neutering animals and not thinking that all pit bulls or feral cats are bad. These books are both very short, but I have had a lot of my struggling readers wanting books about animals this year, which is a departure.
Weaknesses: This is not for the faint of heart, and I would be very careful about having it in an elementary school. There is one scene in particular where a pregnant cat is shot and dies in a gruesome way while giving birth that upset even me, and I think cats are kind of creepy.

Shreve, Steve. Stan and the Toilet Monster.
When I read the publisher's description to my daughter ("When Stan's pet chameleon, Fluffy, who was accidentally flushed down the toilet by Stan's dog, encounters a growth formula flushed by mad scientist Doctor Rrhea, disaster follows and only Stan, with his best friend Larry, can save the day."), she said "Do you want a sharp object to poke your eyes out with now?" This is yet another Wimpy Kid style novel-with-pictures, and it involves toilets, so no, this was not a book that I would want to read for myself. That said, it's a decent one. There is an evil professor, the gross out humor is not just throw-away, and the illustrations are clear, engaging, and do add to the story. *Sigh* We all need to order two copies. This isn't Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading, but it isn't The Day My Butt Went Psycho, either.