I Hate Cats

It's true.  I really really don't like cats.  I'm a dog person.  Sorry if you're a cat person but cats aren't for me.  I think part of it is because I'm allergic to cats and the other part is because we used to have a cat but I'm pretty sure she was possessed by the devil.  Seriously, she was mean and she would hiss at you every time you even thought about petting her.  And dogs are just better-it's a fact.  Check out me and some of my favorite dogs.

The family dog, Chester 

So why do I say all of this about cats and dogs?  Well because today's book is Emily Neville's It's like this, cat.   In this story a young boy does the unfathomable, he chooses to have a cat for a pet-and he likes it!!  Can you believe it?? Ok, I guess it's not that unbelievable, lots of people like cats.  Besides the whole cat thing, It's like this cat is a pretty great book.  What I loved about it was how the main character Dave wavers between childhood and adulthood.  One second he'll make a terribly profound observation and the next he'll say/think something that is classic childhood.  It's delightful.

Rupert who is not my dog at all
 but my favorite puppy from a pet store near my college.
(See, I even named him, it's like he's mine)  

For example when Dave realizes his friend Tom's father wants nothing to do with him he thinks this, "the father Tom always talked down and hoped would measure up.  Now it's like someone has taken his whole childhood and crumpled it up like a wad of tissue paper and thrown it away."  Next to this wise observation Dave observes this, "I always thought kids in the country were lucky having outdoor yards for sports and recess, but I guess we have it over them on holidays 'specially in the fall.  Three Jewish holidays in September, columbus day in October, and Election Day and Veteran's Day in November and then thanksgiving.  It drives the mothers wild."  Also wise but very childlike.

What makes the story so fun to read is the ever expanding cast of characters.  As Dave puts it, "my family is starting to collect people the way Katie collects homeless cats."  So even though the title character is a cat this book is pretty great.  It has romance, humor, heart, and a diverse set of characters-pretty much everything you want in a story,

Noticing things both deep and trivial...that's kids stuff. 


PS Sharon Creech who wrote Walk Two Moons and one of my absolute favorites Love that Dog wrote a sequel to Love that Dog called, appropriately Hate that Cat.  I haven't read it but I should because it's sure to be fantastic.