Hate That Cat: A Novel [Paperback]

Sharon Creech (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 23, 2010 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Jack

Room 204—Miss Stretchberry

February 25

Today the fat black cat
up in the tree by the bus stop
dropped a nut on my head
thunk
and when I yelled at it
that fat black cat said
Murr-mee-urrr
in a
nasty
spiteful
way.

I hate that cat.

This is the story of
Jack
words
sounds
silence
teacher
and cat.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–8—In this worthy sequel to Love That Dog (HarperCollins, 2001), Jack is once again in Miss Stretchberry's class, developing his poetry composition skills and learning from the masters. His Uncle Bill disparages the free-verse form and mundane subjects, stressing the importance of metaphor, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and LARGE moments. But Jack works his way into these concepts by means of Miss S's introduction to the work of Edgar Allan Poe, T. S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, Valerie Worth, and Walter Dean and Chris Myers, and her constant encouragement of his own attempts. Jack, still healing from the loss of his dog, resists getting a new pet and despises an aloof neighborhood black cat with which he has an unpleasant run-in. He also grapples with putting into words his feelings about his mother, who is deaf, a fact that is slowly and deftly revealed in his poems. When the Christmas-present kitten he has learned to love disappears, Jack grieves anew, until the despised black cat saves the day. Once again, all of the poems are addressed to Miss Stretchberry, and Jack's growing excitement as he discovers the delights of sound ("Tintinnabulation!") and expression is palpable. He also learns the poetry of silence as he and his mother communicate through sign language and tender gestures. The relevant poems are included at the end of the book, along with a hefty bibliography of "Books on the Class Poetry Shelf." Readers will be touched and inspired once more.—Marie Orlando, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

In a worthy companion piece to Love That Dog (2001), Creech employs observant sensitivity and spare verse to carve an indelible portrait of a boy who discovers the power of self-expression. Once again, Jack works on a poetry journal for Miss Stretchberry, now his fifth-grade teacher. He responds to her instruction with skepticism, all the while absorbing the depth of feeling in the poems she shares, sometimes in spite of himself. Creech is a master of negative space; though we see only Jack’s side of their dialogue, we learn a great deal about the other figures in Jack’s life. In Love That Dog, Jack’s reluctant relationship with poetry mirrored his struggle to let go of a good friend. In this title, we see Jack’s reluctance waning, and with it, the resolute protection of his feelings. Try as he might to hold them off, the lines of Miss Stretchberry’s poems open a space in his heart just big enough to allow affection for a small black kitten, dotted with white, to find its way in. Grades 3-6. --Thom Barthelmess --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1 Reprint edition (February 23, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061430943
• ISBN-13: 978-0061430947
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #45 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Humor > Cats, Dogs & Animals
  • #59 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > General

More About the Author

Sharon Creech is the author of the Newbery Medal winner Walk Two Moons and the Newbery Honor Book The Wanderer. Her other work includes the novels Hate That Cat, The Castle Corona, Replay, Heartbeat, Granny Torrelli Makes Soup, Ruby Holler, Love That Dog, Bloomability, Absolutely Normal Chaos, Chasing Redbird, and Pleasing the Ghost, as well as three picture books: A Fine, Fine School; Fishing in the Air; and Who's That Baby? Ms. Creech and her husband live in upstate New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Like that book, October 2, 2008

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hate That Cat: A Novel (Hardcover)

There are few things nicer than catching a glimpse of an upcoming children's book title and bursting into laughter at the cover. A nice laugh, of course. I don't suppose that many people thought that Sharon Creech's Love That Dog was in particular need of a sequel. It was a perfectly nice book but a succinct and, in many ways, self-contained verse novel. A slim little book, ideal for those reluctant readers who need to read a b...more There are few things nicer than catching a glimpse of an upcoming children's book title and bursting into laughter at the cover. A nice laugh, of course. I don't suppose that many people thought that Sharon Creech's Love That Dog was in particular need of a sequel. It was a perfectly nice book but a succinct and, in many ways, self-contained verse novel. A slim little book, ideal for those reluctant readers who need to read a book for class but don't want anything "too long" (oh, insidious phrase). It also happens to be one of the few verse novels out there that justifies the format, rather than just appearing as a series of randomly broken up sentences. Now Creech has followed up that acclaimed bit of verse with Hate That Cat, a logical extension to the previous title. In the first book Jack dealt with the death of his dog with the help of poetry. In the second, we learn more about his family and about some felines that challenge his resolve.

When last we saw Jack he had learned to love the poet Walter Dean Myers and to accept that his dead dog was gone. Now it's an entirely new school year and Surprise! Miss Stretchberry is unexpectedly his teacher again. Of course, she's not too pleased with the series of anti-cat poems he's been writing lately. Lately a fat black cat has been terrorizing Jack at his bus stop and he is in a full-on anti-feline mode as a result. But there may be some surprises for Jack coming up. Miss Stretchberry is introducing him to concepts like onomatopoeia and synonyms. Though his Uncle Bill (a college prof) is pooh-poohing what constitutes a "real" poem, Jack is able to use his poetry to discuss everything from his mother's deafness to an unexpected Christmas present and an even more unexpected friend.

The novel works, in large part, because it resolves unresolved issues from the first title. By the end of Love That Dog, Jack sort of came to terms with his deceased friend. What's more, he became a fan of poetry. But he never really got to the point where he'd want another pet. His fear is palpable, particularly when he writes "even if you had a nice cat / that you loved / it might run outside / and into the street / and get / squished / by a car / going fast / with many miles to go / before it sleeps." Now his teacher and his parents conspire to get him another pet and, what's more, one that's as unlike his old one as possible. That would normally be a recipe for ootsy cutesy-ness, but Creech is cleverer than that. For one thing, the evil black cat that enjoys scratching and hissing at Jack whenever it has a chance to do so, is mildly redeemed by the story's end, but in a grudging kind of way. I liked that. It was easier than ending the book with everything sunshine and roses.

The poetry selection in this book is just as lovely as it was in its predecessor. There's a nice bit of Poe, some William Carlos Williams, T.S. Eliot, Valerie Worth, Christopher Myers, and others. And this time I remembered to keep flipping back and forth between the story and the poems in the back of the book as I read. Not everyone's going to know to do that, you know. Footnotes that mention that you can find the poems Jack's discussing at the title's end would have been distracting, certainly, but I still think they could have been interwoven into the text. When a class reads this book together, the teacher is able to tell them to read the back of the book. But when a kid is reading it on his or her own, they won't know until it's almost too late. Fortunately Jack's just a great kid to read about. You can't help but love his ever hopeful "Is he alive?" or "Is she alive?" queries to the long long dead poets he regularly encounters (little wonder he's such a Walter Dean Myers fan).

My co-worker started to read this book and then eventually had to stop. "I think I need to reread the first book," she admitted, which sounds pretty ridiculous when you consider how slim these stories are. But after a while I could see why she'd say that. When I read the part of the book that said that Jack's mother was deaf, I couldn't remember if that had been mentioned in Love That Dog and if it was important or not. The initial introduction is almost a throwaway line ("My mother likes my short lines. She runs her fingers down them and then taps her lips once, twice."). After a while, though, Creech works this new story into the whole kerschmozzle and it pans out very well.

It is admittedly a bit convenient that Miss Stretchberry would just happen to be teaching a new grade and that that grade would just happen to have Jack in it again. But then it's not as if that sort of thing doesn't happen from time to time. And though I do not think that there is any way Ms. Creech can continue Jack's story any further (sequel ideas: Mind That Turtle? Tolerate That Budgie?) she has done a very good job at justifying his further adventures. For fans of the original book, Hate That Cat is going to simply provide more of what they want. And for those who've never read Love That Dog it will still resonate as a great book of sounds, inflections, images, and just plain n' simple fun words. A great little book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can you judge a book by holding it?, August 6, 2010

By 

Judy K. Polhemus "Book Collector" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hate That Cat: A Novel (Paperback)

A college professor once told one of my classes that just holding a book could somehow impress on the holder the book's content. (Out of context this seems silly, but was very wise within context.) This time I must disagree with that dear professor. Holding "Hate That Cat" with its ugly red cover, then opening it and looking at the poetic forms inside made me snap it closed, put it back on the shelf, and huff: Why would I want to read a novel written in poetic form? Mercy me, sometimes I can be so silly.

"Hate That Cat" is one of the most touching, endearing, delightful, clever, entertaining, instructive books I've ever read. Written in poetic form based on the poems his teacher presents, the book outlines the thinking and writing processes of Jack, one young boy, not any boy, but a very bright, creative boy, one you would want as your student (if a teacher) or your child (if a parent). I was totally captivated by the character, the style of the book, the themes conveyed--not just one, but several, and left tear stains on the last 20 pages or so. This in a 148-page book.

Here's one example of what I mean. Miss Stretchberry introduced the poem by William Carlos Williams (one of my favorites, BTW) entitled "The Red Wheelbarrow."

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

So here's what he writes to Miss Stretchberry:

"The wheelbarrow poem again?
Did you forget we read it last year?

Okay, here's one:

so much depends upon
a creeping cat
crouched in the tree
beside the yellow bus stop."

Then he tells Miss Stretchberry that she will probably ask why (this is his journal) so much depends on that cat. He anticipates this question by writing:

"Remember:
the wheelbarrow guy
didn't say why
so much depended upon
the red wheelbarrow and
those white chicky chickens."

Dear Reader, I began laughing at this boy's cheekiness and his creativity, almost forgetting who the actual creator was--Sharon Creech. As clever manipulator of language, especially language based on poetry lessons and life lessons, Ms Creech is simply divine in reaching way down deep inside a person to pull out one's sensitivity, humanity, compassion, care, and concern.

You see, this boy's mother is deaf and must sign to communicate. This boy does also and imagines not only his own responses to the poetry his teacher presents, but how to relay these responses to his mother so she will "know" how words sound, especially when using assonance and consonance and alliteration and onomatopoeia and the like.

In the back are the words to all the poems used in the book: "Love That Boy" by Walter Dean Myers, "Bells" by Poe, "kitten" by Valerie Worth, "The Eagle" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Black Cat" by Christopher Myers, "The Naming of Cats" by T.S. Eliot, and three more WCW poems. With each one Jack writes his own version--sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always creative and entertaining!

This novel is the sequel to Love That Dog (don't tell me it's out of print!), but it is not necessary for appreciating this book. Basically, Jack had a yellow dog he loved, but it died (I don't know how). Now there is this stray black cat that Jack tried to save out of a tree by the bus stop. It claws and bites him, thus his hate for "that black cat." Later he gets a kitten for Christmas:

The Gift
(Inspired by Mr. William Carlos Williams)
by Jack

So much depends upon
a black kitten
in a straw basket
under the Christmas tree.

I'll let that image stay before you as I close this review. I laughed out loud, I cried, I sighed, and now I wish for everyone to read this book for the same amazing round of emotions so wrought in one book. Thank you, Sharon Creech, for this brilliant little book! I know you don't hate cats, nor does Jack!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars With thanks to Mr Walter Dean Myers, and Jack, November 3, 2008

By 

Sarah Miller (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hate That Cat: A Novel (Hardcover)

I love that book
like my grandpa loves pie
I said I love that book
like my grandpa loves pie

Love to eat it in one sitting
Love to eat it
lean back, sigh.