"Cats are timeless," replied our inimitable editor Marilyn Dahl when I suggested a story on some first-rate cat titles published earlier in 2016. Well put. Here are three delightfully illustrated novels that, sure as tuna, promise to have readers ages 8 to 12 purring.
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"I was born on a ship, the runt of a six litter," begins Jacob Tibbs, the yellow-furred star of Cylin Busby's richly told The Nine Lives of Jacob Tibbs (Knopf). Jacob was born on a ship in Liverpool in 1847. In between threats to toss the little cat overboard, the salty sailors scratch him between the ears as he learns the ropes. Jacob bravely perseveres in the face of loss, danger, and his own limitations, and finally proves himself to be a regal cat-o'-sea.
Little Cat's Luck (Simon & Schuster) by Newbery Honor author Marion Dane Bauer (On My Honor; Little Dog, Lost) is a gentle and heartwarming verse novel written in short, playfully arranged lines about a sheltered calico house cat named Patches who can't resist the call of the wild--a beckoning autumn leaf, actually. She's convinced she will find her own special place out there somewhere, "hidden away,/ snug,/ dark,/ quiet." Encountering surprises and scrapes, friends and foes, she discovers a very unlikely hideaway indeed.
How to Capture an Invisible Cat (Bloomsbury) is a rollicking cat tale by Paul Tobin (Prepare to Die!), the whip-smart, laugh-out-loud funny debut of the Genius Factor series. The invisible cat, named Proton, is almost elephant-sized... and he's trying to kill the sixth-grade narrator, Delphine, host of weekly Cake vs. Pie meetings and only friend of Nate. Proton is inventor Nate's nightmare experiment in cat-enlargement... and the life-threatening, city-squashing cat is just the beginning of their troubles.
Ah, cats. Seafaring, adventurous, murderous... and timeless.