Cat O'Nine Tails (Cat Royal) [Import] [Hardcover]

Julia Golding (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Egmont Books Ltd (August 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405230460
• ISBN-13: 978-1405230469
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,535,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My journey to becoming an author has been a roundabout one, taking in many other careers. I grew up on the edge of Epping Forest (Essex, UK) and was that dreamy kind of child who was always writing stories. After reading English at Cambridge, I decided to find out as much as I could about the wider world so joined the Foreign Office and served in Poland. My work as a diplomat took me from the high point of town twinning in the Tatra Mountains to the low of inspecting the bottom of a Silesian coal mine.

On leaving Poland, I exchanged diplomacy for academia and took a doctorate in the literature of the English Romantic Period at Oxford. I then joined Oxfam as a lobbyist on conflict issues, campaigning at the UN and with governments to lessen the impact of conflict on civilians living in war zones - a cause about which I still feel very passionate.

Married with three children, I now live in Oxford between two rivers, surrounded by gargoyles, beautiful sandstone buildings and ancient trees. I plan my books while walking our dog, Caspar, on Port Meadow by the Thames or Isis.

My first novel, 'The Diamond of Drury Lane', won the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2006 and the Nestle Children's Book Prize 2006 (formerly known as the Smarties Prize). I was also chosen by Waterstone's in 2007 as one of their 'Twenty-five authors for the future'. 'Empty Quarter' was longlisted for the Carnegie Award 2009; 'Wolf Cry' in 2010. In the US, 'Secret of the Sirens' won the honor book medal of the Green Earth Book Award.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cat Is Back, Just In Time For Another Wild Adventure!!, January 4, 2010

By 

Monster Of Books (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cat O'Nine Tails (Cat Royal Adventures (Hardback)) (Hardcover)

Fantastic! Super! Amazing! Is there any words better then that to describe this book & the rest of the Cat Royal Series? I mean Cat Royal is probably, in my opinion, the strongest female heroine I have encounter so far in YA/MG fiction. She is smart, and isn't afraid to be herself, even with the time period. She is a great role model, and I look up to her in many ways. Julia Golding has this special talent about her to create books that are addictive and attractive to everyone who reads them, Cat Royal Adventures are no exception. If I had to rate all the Cat Royal books I would give each one a four stars, except maybe the third boo: Den Of Thieves. I haven't reviewed any of Julia Golding books on my site, but if you ever hear me talk about my favorite authors then you'll know that shes one of them. I can read any of her books, more then once. They're addicting.
In this book Cat, Pedro, Syd and Frank get kidnapped and put on the ship, called the Courageous. Cat has to once again, dress up as a boy and pretend she is one. She goes all over the world from Bath, all the way to America. She even becomes a part of Creek Indian Family. When you read a Cat Royal book you learn a lot about the past, but also about different culture customs & racism.
Why do I like this book, or any of the other books? I have no idea. Maybe because they're entertaining, not boring, or maybe it has something to do with Cat. You never get bored with Cat or get annoyed with her. You just simply adore her. I also love all the possible relationships she could have with guys (There's Frank, Syd, Billy, and maybe even Pedro). Though I root for Cat and Billy, I do have a soft spot for Syd :)
But what I didn't like about this book is a) I thought some scenes could of been cut out, they were not really necessary. B) I thought that the person who betrayed Cat & her friends could have been better hinted at. C) I thought that the words, old words, that should have been in the glossary, weren't.
My favorite scene? Is the ending when one of Cat's friend has a baby, and she has to watch. I love what she says afterwords,
"Yes, she's fine now, though it was worse than a storm at sea giving life to that armful of trouble. Syd and Pedro looked at Lizzie in awe. 'Put me off having children, I can tell you," I added. (Page. 378)
I cracked up when I heard her say that. Whenever you read a Cat Royal novel, you're in for: adventure, new knowledge, and a bunch of laughter. In all the fourth book in the series live up to the expectations of what I have for The Cat Royal Series.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children, November 29, 2009

By 

Yana V. Rodgers "econkids.rutgers.edu" (New Brunswick, NJ) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cat O'Nine Tails (Cat Royal Adventures (Hardback)) (Hardcover)

Catherine Royal, a plucky and courageous teenaged orphan known to all as "Cat," has wound up at the estate of the Duke of Avon. A series of adventures brought her from the streets of London to the theater life of Drury Lane and now to the lap of luxury at the home of her good friend Frank, the Duke's son and heir to his wealth. Feeling extremely out of place and inordinately bored, Cat longs to be released from the confines of reading and sewing quietly inside.

Little does she realize that her world will soon turn upside down when news of a missing friend leads to a fact-finding mission and her abduction into forced work on a British Navy vessel bound for the West Indies. It takes all the strength and wit Cat can muster to survive the cruel treatment that she suffers at the hands of her captor, the ship's purser. Along the way Cat uncovers a malicious plot to trick the Duke into transferring Frank's rightful inheritance to someone else.

This fourth book in the series will certainly meet the high standards that readers have come to expect from a Cat Royal adventure. Woven into the excitement are a series of economic themes, including the drudgery of forced servitude and slavery, the contrasts between wealth and poverty, and the discriminatory treatment of Native Americans during the colonial era. A fiery and independent heroine adds a potent punch to this appealing work of historical fiction.