"Highway Cats" by Janet Taylor Lisle (author), David Frankland (illustrator)

When three kittens are thrown off the back of a truck, none of the highway cats knows what to make of them. They seem to have an appeal -- an energy, even -- that Khalia, Koo, Jolly Roger, and the rest of the mangy, feral cats don't understand. But there are bigger issues to figure out when the bulldozers start coming, threatening to demolish their homes as well as several historical landmarks. Can three little kittens be the answer to saving the town? 

Janet Taylor Lisle is the Newbery Honor-winning author of Afternoon of the Elves, Black Duck, and The Lost Flower Children.