Cat Burglar Black

Cat Burglar Black

 Written and Illustrated by Richard Sala 

Title: Cat Burglar Black

Richard Sala's Self Portrait

Author and Illustrator:Richard Sala has always had a love for everything mysterious. He is in the process of continuing the Evil Eye series that he writes and draws. His comics and illustrations have appeared in many publications including The New York Times. Richard lives in Berkeley, California. http://www.richardsala.com/ or http://hereliesrichardsala.blogspot.com/

Genre: Graphic Novel

Grade Level: Young Adult

Synopsis: Cat Burglar Black follows an orphan named K. K is moving to a new home for girls that is run by her long lost aunt. There are only three other girls living at the home. All of the girls are from former orphanages where they were trained to be burglars.  K soon learns that the girls are there to pull off a great heist. The girls are to steal three paintings from homes in the town. The paintings are to reveal where a treasure is buried. As the girls are going into the homes and taking the paintings, they each go missing one by one. A the end, K uncovers the secret location of the treasure and in the process does away with the horrible people running the girls home. She finds where her aunt was locked away and rescues her. K and her aunt live happily together.

K and Dory

Pre-reading Activity: The teacher will give the students scenarios and the students will have to discuss what the right and the wrong thing to do for that scenario is. This discussion should be student driven.

Post-reading Activity: After the story is read, have the students discuss certain parts of the story and if what K did was the right or the wrong thing. The sections of the story that the students will discuss can be provided by the teacher.

Assessment: The students will be assessed on their participation and active engagement.

Personal Reflection: Cat Burglar Black was an easy read. I did enjoy the story line, but would probably not use it in a classroom lesson. I would include it in the free time reading baskets for students to read independently. Richard Sala's story flows nicely and his illustrations complement the story line. The only thing I did not enjoy was the ending of the story. K never finds out what happened to her friends that went missing in the houses. She tells her aunt that she will stay to try and try to locate her friends over time.