The Great Cat Caper

Operation Catness:

1. Open the tuna cans.
2. Catch the curious kitten first then the others.
3. Give them to Frank and Nadine.
4. Get home to tutoring.
5. Make a sign-up sheet for people to adopt the cats.
6. Be done.

Book: S.A.V.E. Squad Series Book 2: The Great Cat Caper by Laurine Snelling and Kathleen Damp Wright, Barbour Publishing, 2012

Genre: Adventure/Realistic Fiction

Target Audience: Girls 11-14

Subjects: Priorities, Values

Summary: Goal: Get accepted back into the advanced class at school by passing the math section on the entrance test. And come up with some sort of community project she and the rest of the squad can do to meet their school requirement. Problems: Even with meeting with her math tutor three times a week, Vee still doesn’t understand and especially doesn’t like math. A simple accident causes such a disaster at the senior center, the director won’t let them volunteer there. A curious little kitten in the alley, along with others is in danger, along with other wild cats that live near the dumpster. And if all this isn’t enough trouble, Vee is still struggling with her dad and mom’s remarriages. She just doesn’t feel like there’s any spot for her now. Her dad can’t even be bothered to come to her events. Solution: study math constantly, create a save the cats service project for the SAVE Squad, and make a deal with her dad. But this great plan has so many things wrong with it, it may turn into the great disaster instead!

Notes: A story about a 6^th grade girl with way too much on her plate. Her dad has taught her to “rev up her want list” and Vee does so. She puts 100% into all she does. So when she feels that the advanced classes is the special spot she’s been looking for ever since the remarriages, she determines to stay in. An accident got her there the first time, and she determines to stay there, no matter what. The plan to save the cats just leads to disaster after disaster. She can’t figure out what she’s doing wrong at first. A special presentation and conversation after Church one day help her realize that the treasure, the special spot she’s been longing for can’t be found in advanced classes or a special pet. Her treasure has to be greater. God Himself is the treasure she’s been seeking. A lot of the book lacks any spiritual emphasis, but when it comes, it does really well.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 3/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

2 Corinthians 4:6-7 – For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.