Monday, August 13, 2012

It's Like This Cat by Emily Cheney Neville


I often share with my students that I enjoy reading because books can take you places.  It’s true.  Open a book and you can travel any where in the world, and still be snuggled up in your comfy chair in your living room.  This summer I’ve camped in the Everglades, (crashed an airboat in the process), escaped with Fadi and his family from war-torn Afghanistan to San Francisco, and experienced the heat of mid-summer in Mississippi with no pool to swim in!  All this and I never left the state!

In the Newbery Award winning book, It’s Like This Cat, I was able to travel back in time to visit New York City in the early 1960’s.  It’s a culture shock, but in a good way.  New York in the early 60’s is a big bustling city, but a much safer place for a kid to grow up in.  Dave Mitchell is 14 years old and lives in Manhattan with his mom and dad.  He’s your pretty typical teenager, likes to hang out with friends, frequently is at odds with his dad, but tries to keep his mom happy.  The story centers around Dave and “Cat”, a stray tom cat that Dave adopts to spite his father who thinks Dave should get a dog.  Gradually Dave and Cat form a strong bond as Cat leads Dave on new adventures and helps to bring important new people and relationships into his life.

Throughout the book the author uses language and some slang that may have been popular in the 60’s but is rarely, if ever, used today.  As I read the story I found it fun to compare lifestyles today to those of the early 60’s. 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

My mom got me this book before school started. I can tell you, I think it was the second most boringest book i've ever read in my entire life. if he's going on 'adventures', these nadventures are like really dumb like going to buy some coke at the store or goin g to the beach to meet some girls. I didn't finish the book because I was literally fallinmg asleep while reading. its twilight all over again. Also this book just seems to go on and on and on! I mean, who really cares that you saw someone at a gas station and you hsd to go i n the next five minutes! I was to wordy, boring, and just plain old dumb. No offense.

Sue said...

Hmmm... Well "anonymous", I'm sorry you didn't like the book. It is a little different. But look at the copyright date, I think it might have been written in the 1950's or 60's. Life might have been a little different then? I would love to hear about some books that you like! Send me a book review and I'll post it for you. (Oh please include a first name, otherwise I might think you're a student in my class.....) :)