My Life as a Cat

A girl, Olive, rescues a cat stuck in a tree during a storm and calls him Leonard. But Leonard isn’t what he seems to be. He is not a cat but an alien who plummeted to earth and ended up in the wrong body. Even worse, he is miles from where he needs to be, if he ever wants to get home again. Leonard is in South Carolina and needs to be in Yellowstone National Park. How is he going to get there and will Olive be able to help? Or does she need help herself?

In this heart-warming, funny and thoughtful novel, Carlie Sorosiak immerses herself once again in the mind of an animal. Neither Olive nor Leonard fit in to the world well; both are masking, pretending to be ‘normal’ so others don’t harm them. Olive’s anxiety about being ‘weird’ and her fear of being seen and judged by others are powerfully conveyed. Leonard’s emotional journey from alien to part of the family is moving. The story carries warm messages about making your own family, the wonder of being weird, and the importance of friends.