Meow.org: The Cat-Napping Caper

by Darby Lee Patterson, Hal Hammond, Karen Pastor (Editor)

Dozens of cats and kittens have disappeared from their homes and Elzbeth and her friends are worried. Since the other kids at school don't play with them, the four friends use recess and weekends to figure out a diabolical - and sometimes funny - plot that's making captives out of innocent kittens. They use clever technology, mighty brains and special gifts to pinpoint where the cats are, and Elzbeth dives straight into trouble. Can her friends save her and the cats from a scheme so evil it will curl your whiskers? And exactly why does someone need hundreds of cats, anyway? Join The Crew as they use their considerable abilities to solve the mystery!

104 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2009

About the author

Darby Patterson had a long career as a journalist. Starting as one of the first female radio announcers in Minnesota and moving on to report for several newspapers, online publications and as editor-in-chief of a national technology magazine, she wrote her way across California and the nation. In addition, she owned a small-town newspaper and a monthly lifestyle tabloid carried throughout Central California cities. It was this experience, in the hamlets of the Sierra Mountains, that led to The Song of Jackass Creek.
Darby looks back at her career in journalism as an opportunity to have unique experiences and to engage with people from all walks of life. “From floating high in a hot air balloon race (and crashing in a corn field) to plunging deep into the inky blackness of a working tungsten mine, rubbing elbows with the famous and infamous, covering tragedies and triumphs. I was privileged to interview a many famous (and some infamous) personalities during those exciting years,” she recalls. “But I most loved the stories I did about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people.”
It was her tenure as a publisher a community newspaper in a mountain village south of Yosemite National Park that served as inspiration for The Song of Jackass Creek. “During those years I interviewed scores of 'everyday' people - ranchers, teachers, grandmothers, tribal elders, bartenders, loggers and so many others,” says Darby. “I was profoundly moved by their stories and their character. I felt their lives had great meaning, and they were never far from my heart.”
After a 25- year career in journalism, Darby turned her attention to helping people tell their personal stories and capture their family memoirs as a publisher, co-writer and author of biographies. At the same time, she wrote a well-received children’s mystery and a number of non-fiction books. The Song of Jackass Creek is her first published adult, mystery novel.

Reviews

[SUZAN HUGHES-KENNEDY · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably a good book for pre-teens to engage children in accepting people with handicaps or at least discussing their issues. I enjoyed it but didn't find the story believable.

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this delightful book from cover to cover last weekend. Not only is it a well-written story, but it also introduces us to four extraordinary fifth graders. The book is fast paced with intriguing character development. I particularly appreciate the evolution of the special friendships the young people establish. Readers, young and adult, can celebrate the character, loyalty, creativity, courage within The Crew. And the fifth-grade humor is irresistable!

Were I still an elementary school principal, I would ask the fourth grade teachers to share Meow.org as a read-aloud book during the second semester. Each chapter invites meaningful discussion about empathy, understanding, kindness and teamwork.

I believe that this book is a book for children, parents, teachers, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Many life lessons are taught in the story.

I have asked one of our Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic board members--and RFB&D member--to listen to the book which was recorded in our Palo Alto studio and give feedback. He was blinded at the age of one. I also asked a young adult with cerebral palsy to read the book and give feedback. She used RFB&D in high school and college.

I strongly recommend Meow.org.

Trish

[Colleen Brittain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meow.org is a fun book. It shows just what the handicapable can do. When hard pressed to solve a mystery the four members, all with their own disabilities, come together with the help of some very cool technology to solve a missing cat case. Working together to excel at their own strengths and to help each other overcome their own difficulties the team works the case in order to save the neighborhood cats. Along the way they manage to teach people just what can be accomplished when you put your mind to it, handicapped or not. This is a great read for anyone between the ages of 8 to 13.

[Carla]

On an airplane, I picked up this book. Now I am 60 plus---please don't ask me how plus---and the writing so enthralled me I didn't want to land.