To Be a Cat

Gr 4–6—Barney Willow has a lot on his mind: his dad has disappeared from their small British town, his mom is constantly working, and he has become the target for the aggressions of both the school bully and the terrifying principal, Miss Whipmire. He finds solace in his best friend, but even that friendship is not enough to cancel out the misery of his 12th birthday when Miss Whipmire threatens to expel him from school. He sees a cat on his way home and thinks about how easy its life must be, wishing aloud that he could trade places with it. The next morning, Barney wakes up to find himself in the cat's body, and he quickly learns how difficult the day-to-day existence of an animal can be. As he navigates the feline world, he discovers the truth about Miss Whipmire, his father, and the bully, and he finds out that maybe being a human boy is not as awful as it seems. Peppered with quirky illustrations, the story features extreme characters and circumstances in the tradition of Roald Dahl, though it lacks some of the spark of his work. Nonetheless, Haig's cautionary tale is a unique one, and Barney's struggles will be understood by readers who are uncomfortable in their own skin.—Sarah Reid, Broome County Public Library, Binghamton, NY