It's Like This, Cat - Softcover

Neville, Emily Cheney

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0064400735 ISBN 13: 9780064400732

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1996

The Newbery-winning classic novel about a young New Yorker who figures out the world on his own terms with the help of one prickly tomcat, for readers who enjoy such books as Al Capone Does My Shirts and Hoot.

Dave Mitchell and his father disagree on almost everything—and every time their fighting sets off his mother’s asthma, Dave ends up storming out of the house. But when Dave meets a big, handsome tomcat, he decides to bring him home, no matter what his father has to say about it.

With adventure-loving Cat around, Dave meets lots of new people—like Tom, a young dropout on his own in the city, and Mary, the first girl he can talk to like a real person.

And as his eyes open to those around him, Dave starts to understand his father a little better. They still don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but there is one thing they can both agree on: Having a cat can be very educational—especially when it’s one like Cat.

From the Back Cover:

My father is always talking about how a dog can be very educational for a boy. This is one reason I got a cat.

Dave Mitchell and his father yell at each other a lot, and whenever the fighting starts, Dave's mother gets an asthma attack. That's when Dave storms out of the house. Then Dave meets Tom, a strange boy who helps him rescue Cat. It isn't long before Cat introduces Dave to Mary, a wonderful girl from Coney Island. Slowly Dave comes to see the complexities in people's lives and to understand himself and his family a little better.

About the Author:

Emily Neville was born in Manchester, Connecticut, and graduated from Bryn Mawr College. Before she wrote her Newbery Medal-winning first novel, It’s Like This, Cat, she worked as a newspaper reporter in New York City. Her other books for children include Berries Goodman, an ALA Notable Book; The Bridge, a picture book illustrated by Ronald Himler; and The China Year.