The Abandoned

The author of "The Silent Miaow" bats a home run again with this hugely imaginative fantasy novel about a boy who wishes he was a cat and then wakes up to find he has become one, and his adventures in cat form are captivating and enthralling. You will lose your heart to Jennie, his mentor in the ways of the feline, and you will keep this book to read over again. It's been on my bookshelf for decades now and I won't part with it.

A MUST READ for any cat lover or anyone who even LIKES felines. Paul Gallico definitely knows these wonderful animals and brings them to life on the pages of this book. You will get much pleasure from reading it.

Although not a cat lover I read Jennie as a ten year old boy living and growing up in Glasgow during the late 60's. I remember borrowing a copy for the Castlemilk public library and read it several time during that summer. I now have two daughters who recently joined their local library, and during the summer holidays the youngest brought back a book called "Abandoned" and started getting really excited about a boy called Peter and a cat called Jennie, almost instantly I recognised it as Jennie. Well we bought a copy and one Sunday I read it again for the first time in 35 years, the memories came flooding back, Peter getting knocked down, the fight with the ginger tom, just wash, a wonderful book and an enduring story for all ages

I read this book after it was recommended by a fellow teacher-librarian. I read it aloud to my daughter (then 10 years old), who loved it! Years later, I read it to my Grade 4 class. Events intervened over the month of June, and it was the LAST day of school before summer vacation. After a long assembly we had about 20 minutes left to finish the final two chapters. Alas, the bell rang and all the children were free to go for the summer. No one moved. They all wanted to hear the end of the story. I still see former students who recall that book as a formative one for them.