This is the story of Lilly (an 11 year old girl) and four ugly, loud cats...Lily lives in a single parent household and is home alone often because her mother works many jobs to support them. One unfortunate day, Lily is locked out and all the neighbors who usually help her when this happens are not at home...just old, mean Mr. Freeman and his loud, ugly cats. Mr. Freeman hears her crying and admonishes her to stop making so much racket because she's bothering him...eventually he allows her in his house to wait until her mother comes home, where she discovers that despite his cantankerous nature, he's quite loving and caring when it comes to his four very ugly, very loud cats. It's this kindness that Lily remembers when Mr. Freeman dies a short while later and the apartment manager threatens to call the S.P.C.A to get rid of the cats so he can rent the apartment.

Lily feels responsible and begs the manager to allow her to find homes for them first...she's given three days to place the animals...this is a heartwarming story of making human connections with people who you might not normally get to know and how wonderful community and good neighbors can be...that and the story of Lily triumphing over the difficulty of placing the cats before her time runs out! Well thought out and very easy to read for those starting out with chapter books, it also has some simple illustrations to help bring the story to life for those making the transition to all word chapter books. The Four Ugly Cats in Apartment 3D is easy to follow, but interesting for young readers! I'd recommend it for readers just starting to read chapter books on their own without help, it's simple enough for reading the words and still managing to keep the story straight, while still being interesting to the reader! I give it a solid B! ( )

A young girls quest to care for cats and find appropriate homes for them. For all cat-lovers or animal lovers. Opportunity for discussion and, perhaps, promoting volunteer service at a local shelter. ( )