Anna Wells may be a year out from the formation of the Animal Justice Club, a small mystery-solving group she started with her friends Felicity and Ginger in Anna Wells and the Mystery of the Dusty Duchess, but she is no less passionate about her work. When a litter of abandoned kittens turns up during a competition for Anna’s other great love (horseback riding), Anna and her friends jump into action to find the culprit in Terry Ruth Eissfeldt’s ANNA WELLS AND THE CASE OF THE CATERWAUL: An Animal Justice Club Mystery.
Their hunt for the criminal (animal abandonment is illegal in North Vancouver Island, where they live) is intense but sporadic, as equestrian events take center stage for most of the novel. Readers not interested in horses may find it difficult to grasp the finer details of the tournament, especially as there's no glossary to explain vocabulary like “flatwork” and “Lead Line” (though context clues are enough to deduce the meanings of the most important terms). When her horse Polly stumbles in an event, Anna’s mind races: “What went wrong? Did I stop paying attention? Did I assume Polly would do it on her own? Why did she swerve?” Her suspicions of sabotage by rival Melanie Young provide for a secondary puzzle as she strives to outpace the other riders in the point tally.
Widely relatable everyday teen problems (like managing friends with different personalities, watching an older sibling move away, and having a crush) also add to the drama. The narrative itself moves quickly, mainly because of short chapters with brief, spaced-out paragraphs that make it more accessible for readers with a variety of abilities. Its pacing is excellent until the final quarter or so of the story, at which point the titular mystery has wrapped up with the reveal of the kittens’ abandoner. This so-called culprit is fairly predictable, but their reasons are at least creative and interesting.
Anna and her friends spend the final 60 pages fighting to save a feral cat colony in their town. This is a decidedly large chunk for a subplot, but it does provide realistic lessons to tweens and teens about how to practice advocacy with the help of trusted adults and social media. All in all, this second entry in the Animal Justice Club series will make readers excited for the third.
Terry Ruth Eissfeldt’s ANNA WELLS AND THE CASE OF THE CATERWAUL: An Animal Justice Club Mystery is a strong second installment in the Animal Justice Club series that will speak to late elementary readers passionate about horses and animal welfare.
~ Gina Elbert for IndieReader