THE PERFECT CAT-SITTER
by Ann Whitehead Nagda & illustrated by Stephanie Roth
This fourth book about the fourth-graders in Mrs. Steele’s class finds Rana rushing off with her family just before the Christmas holiday to take care of her grandfather who’s had a heart attack in India. Class smarty Susan volunteers to cat-sit and gets a lot more than she bargains for. While in school, the class makes their own travel brochures for trips to India, and at Rana’s, Susan deals with Tiger’s antics of catness: escaping in the snow, throwing up, hiding in the drier and trying for a fishy snack in the goldfish bowl. An accident while attempting to rescue a deer from Christmas lights results in a broken arm for Richard, and two newly closer friends for Susan, who also learns that perfection is not necessary to a job well done. Roth’s pencil-and-wash, black-and-white illustrations at key moments of the story are a nice addition. On the whole, a delightfully realistic early-chapter book that will be welcomed by fans of the first three. (Fiction 7-11)