I think of all the “Jenny” books, this one is my favorite so far. It’s not a bunch of short stories together like the others, but a proper little chapter book. And the main character is a different cat who happens to meet Jenny and the others mid-story. At first he’s a stray, gets taken in by the furnace man in a city hotel, who lets him stay in the basement as he does a good job keeping the mice and rats away. Tom, our feline protagonist, gets pretty good at his job and soon wants to explore the rest of the hotel. He takes on a self-appointed guardian role, patrolling all the floors at night. There’s no mice to chase up there, but he soon finds out by sniffing at the doors which rooms have guests who brought a cat with them.
At first Tom’s reaction is to threaten these cats to stay put and cause no trouble- he feels like they’re in his territory. But he meets a kind old lady who lives in the hotel and can somehow “speak ‘cat’ ” and gives him advice. She says he should make the cat guests feel welcome instead. Tom tries to change his approach, but it takes some practice. He gets better with a little made-up welcome speech he rehearses. Then comes to a room one night that’s hosting three cats- and they are quite friendly through the door! It’s Jenny and her two adopted brothers, staying with the Captain (because it’s winter and the heating broke in their home). In a few days Jack the sailor cat joins them, and then more and more cats are in other rooms throughout the hotel- because more boilers have burst in older houses during this very cold spell. And they all happen to be the houses around the one yard where the Cat Club meets. So of course all these guest cats know each other, but Tom doesn’t realize that at first. When he does figure it out, he feels quite frantic to keep things under control- he worries that if they get out of their rooms to find each other, it will be chaos or someone will get lost. Even when Sinbad and the Duke, two of the rougher Cat Club members, come to stay in the cellar with him, he doesn’t let on for a long time that their friends are all in rooms upstairs. Of course the Cat Club members eventually find out, and then they are all eager to have a meeting. With Tom’s help they turn it into quite an event, with dancing in an old dusty ballroom. Tom feels a bit out of place at first, but then gets quite a surprise at being honored and recognized by all the other cats for his good work and friendliness.
Why did I like this one better than the others? I’m trying to think that through. Maybe because it felt more cohesive- a real story instead of just some interconnected short chapters. Perhaps because Tom’s character growth, and seeing the Cat Club characters from another perspective, was more interesting. Yes, Jenny getting over her shyness is a main part of all the other books. This one was about an alley cat, full of suspicions and uncertainty at first, who learned how to live in the nice old hotel, how to behave better towards his cat guests, and act differently to keep them as friends. It really was quite nice.
Borrowed from the public library. Completed on 6/4/24.
