Tribeca

Gr 2-4–Tribeca is a calico cat fostered by an unnamed woman in New York City. She shares her name with a Lower Manhattan neighborhood, but also has only three legs, hence the “tri” in her name. Tribeca imagines other animals laughing at her and worries that after her foster period her family, a Black man and a white woman, will kick her out. The family also owns a three-legged dog. Tribeca is a wordy narrator. She is also fond of cat puns: “catastrophe,” “purrfect,” and “think paw-sitive.” Other than Tribeca, characters lack names and personality. There are no stakes or sense of conflict, as much of the narrative is presented as the cat’s hypothetical worries. When she meets the dog, Tribeca calls her dense, a remark likely rooted in cats’ and dogs’ historic antagonistic behavior, but that rudeness makes it difficult to sympathize with a character who is worried about not fitting in. Potter’s artwork is competent but uninspired. Tribeca is accurately depicted doing cute catlike behaviors—jumping around and stretching—combined with anthropomorphic facial expressions and occasional human behaviors, such as putting her paw on her chin to think or drinking a cup of tea at a table. Characters are illustrated in color against spare black-and-white backgrounds amid copious text. Educators will need to explain the fostering process to some readers who may not be familiar with it.