MY LIFE AS A CAT BY CARLIE SOROSIAK
This is a lovely tale about what it is to be human, even though it’s all about a cat. A 300-year-old alien is transported to earth to experience life on our planet for one month. He dreams of being a ranger in Yellowstone National Park, of using umbrellas and getting as much data as he can for his “Hive”. Unfortunately, something goes wrong during his journey and he appears in the body of a cat in the wrong place in the middle of a storm. Luckily, he is rescued by a young girl.
Olive is a child who has trouble making friends and often is referred to as “weird”. She has a head full of interesting facts and sometimes no one to tell them to. She names the cat Leonard, and after a few hiccups, he lets her know his is an alien. Together they try and work their way through Leonard’s wish-list of human experiences. Making a cheese sandwich and hosting a dinner party are things he believes will help him really get a handle on the whole human thing.
Slowly Olive gains more courage to be her own human self too. They spend their days helping her grandmother at the local Turtle Beach Aquarium and making friends with penguins. It all seems to be working out fine. But there is one problem that Leonard has and Olive is determined to help him. He must be at Yellowstone National Park on a particular day, place and time so this his “Hive” can pick him up and take him home. If he misses the rendezvous he will be stuck on Earth and become mortal.
How will Olive manage to get Leonard to a place hundreds of miles away? Will they make it in time? And how can Leonard drag himself away from the best person he has ever met?
Carlie Sorosiak has followed on from her book I Cosmo with another delightful story told through the eyes of an animal. Leonard’s voice is amusing and heartfelt and Olive’s take on the world is honest and warming. Sorosiak explores what it means to be human and also about belonging to a family.
For Ages: 8 + 12 years
Number of Pages: 272 in paperback form.
Published: September 2020
Themes: Family, being human and loyalty
Rating: 3.5/5
I wish: that I had a cat like Leonard.