Six Kids and a Stuffed Cat

Six Kids and a Stuffed Cat written by Gary Paulsen is a short story or play that takes part in a junior high bathroom.  There is an extreme weather warning and everyone at the middle school needs to take shelter until the storm cell passes.  The time was about an hour after school let out and all six of the students were there at the middle school after hours for various reasons.

The six students knew of each other but were not friends.  While sitting in the restroom waiting out the storm, they began to talk and share with one another.  Friendships were made over the time spent in the bathroom during the storm and they discovered new things about one another.  Avery carried around a stuffed cat, Jordan got bloody noses because he was anxious, Taylor pretended to be stupid so  he could hangout with and become friends with Mason, Mason is always on the look out for contacts (not friends), and Regan is always trying to get people to join a group of some kind.

In the end, they all become friends and discover very humanistic things about one another.  Rather than judging one another, they accept each other and become friends.

MY TWO CENTS WORTH:
This was one of Gary Paulsen's short stories.  It was an easy read and I finished it in a short amount off time.  The thing I  like about Gary Paulsen's stories is that they tend to be believable.  Living back east during my junior high years, I can easily relate to this story.  Although I never sat in the bathroom with five other guys during a sever storm, I have hung out at my friends house in the garage during a huge thunder and lightening storm.  We all stayed in the garage, talked, watched the storm, and waited out the storm.  As a middle schooler, your conversations go in all kinds of directions and tend to create a bond with those involved in the conversations.

At the end of the short story, Gary Paulsen wrote the  story in a play.  It is all mapped out so that a group of students could easily act out the story.  If I were a literature teacher and taught the  sixth or seventh grade, I would give this book and play a shot.  It would be fun to do as well as watch.

AR Quiz: 90%