The Last Free Cat

Jade finds a cat in her backyard. This is a shock, because in her world, set in a dystopian future, there are no cats roaming around at all. A deadly feline disease reputedly transmissible to humans caused the government to conduct programs removing and euthanizing almost all cats. Cat breeding and sales are now strictly controlled by one corporation, which means of course they’re terribly expensive and rare animals (to the general public). So Jade is in awe at seeing the cat, but also frightened. If someone suspects she has it, they could send authorities to search her house- and that’s not at all the worst that could happen. Yet how can anyone resist a cat’s soft fur, mesmerizing eyes, comforting purr? Jade of course takes in the cat, against her mother’s protests, but she can’t manage to keep it hidden forever. Terrible consequences ensue- and after the very worst she ends up on the run with an unlikely friend, desperate to keep her cat from being confiscated, or even put to death. I won’t say more about the plot because it was a fun, if tense, surprise all the way through. This story of controlling powers, oppressed people and a lonely girl suddenly thrown into dangerous circumstances, is lightened on nearly every other page by charming descriptions of the cat’s features and behavior. Obviously written by someone who knows cats well! (and ferrets, apparently).

It pulled up so many other books in my mind- The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, for how one sudden action a kid made in self-defense, sent them on the run from the law. Because it was set in a future England with kids attempting to get somewhere (furtively, which is nearly impossible) on a canal boat with an animal, it reminded me of Heartsease. And the whole aspect of the main character just wanting to get her life back to normal, while becoming involved in protests and surrounded by activists because of the forbidden animal, it made me think acutely of Eva, by Peter Dickinson. All great reads!

This one, the ending didn’t go where I guessed, but it was very satisfying and I wish there was a sequel. Apparently quite a few other readers thought it lacked detail and had glaring plot holes, but honestly I enjoyed it too much to notice those. I might with a re-read, but I wasn’t scrutinizing things closely enough to care this time.