Homeless: Sunita (Wild at Heart) [Hardcover]

Laurie Halse Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2000 | Age Level: 10 and up | Series: Wild at Heart (Book 2)

sunita has always wanted a cat, but her parents are dead set against it. then she finds a group of strays living in the wild, and knows she can domesticate them—even though she’s been told that these are feral cats, who see humans as their enemies. First, she convinces Dr. Mac to examine the cats, fix them, and give them shots. then she wants to re-release the cats, now healthy, into the neighborhood. but the neighbors consider the cats dangerous pests. will her plan backfire?

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-In contrast to the powerful and affecting YA novel Speak (Farrar, 1999), Anderson's entry in this animal-centered series reads like vapid, formulaic fiction. Sunita is one of a group of student volunteers at the Wild at Heart animal clinic. She has a special relationship with Socrates, the clinic cat, and badly wants a feline of her own. Her parents, of course, are dead set against it, and her chances seem even bleaker after a rabies scare and the discovery of a community of dangerous feral cats. Predictably, Sunita does eventually get her pet, but not before readers have slogged through a veritable primer on feline care and animal control. This story will likely satisfy only the most avid fans of animal fiction.
Ronni Krasnow, formerly at Arlington County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Infused with emotion and information. (Children’s Literature) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover
• Publisher: Rebound by Sagebrush (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0613957601
• ISBN-13: 978-0613957601
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,473,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laurie Halse (rhymes with "waltz") Anderson pretended she was a polar bear when she walked to school through the snow of Syracuse, New York. As a little girl, she would pound away at her father's old typewriter for hours, writing newspaper columns, stories, and letters. She loved watching her father write poetry and reading the funnies on the floor of his office. Laurie fell in love with words when her second-grade teacher taught her how to write haiku. Her favorite book is the dictionary, which is a good thing because she is a terrible speller. She tried to read every book in her school library, a heavenly place. She loves librarians! One of her favorite books was Heidi. This led to curiosity about foreign cultures. As a senior in high school, she was an American Field Service exchange student to Denmark, where she lived on a pig farm. She skipped both her prom and graduation ceremonies and had a great time there. She can still speak Danish.

Laurie Halse Anderson never intended to be an author. At Georgetown University, she majored in foreign languages and linguistics. She hit the real world with no idea of what kind of work she wanted to do. She tried everything, including cleaning banks, milking cows and working as a stockbroker. She hated all of it. Working as a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer was a slight improvement, but she eventually quit to write books. After eight long, rejection-filled years, she has finally qualified as an overnight success.

Laurie's books for children and teenagers have attracted a lot of attention. Her first novel, Speak, was a National Book Award Finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor book, a New York Times bestseller, and an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults. Publisher's Weekly, called Speak "a stunning first novel," in which Ms. Anderson "uses keen observations and vivid imagery to pull readers into the head of an isolated teenager." Speak has been translated into sixteen foreign languages, including Chinese and Catalan. In 2005, the movie version was released. In addition to novels, Laurie writes chapter books for elementary age children and picture books for the pre-school set. She received the Margaret A. Edwards Award, given by the American Library Association for significant and lasting achievement in young adult literature, in 2009.

Laurie lives in Northern New York with her husband, Scot, and their dog, Kezzie. Scot designed and built a writing cottage for Laurie, where she writes daily. Along with writing, she enjoys gardening, running and hanging with her family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book to Explain Feral Cat Colonies, October 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Homeless: Sunita (Wild at Heart, Book 2) (Paperback)

Brought to us by the same people who publish the American Girl Books Wild at Heart is a series about a group of pre-teens who volunteer at the Wild at Heart Veterinary Clinic and other books cover breaking up a puppy mill and the plight of manatees. Homeless addresses the issue of feral cats and in my opinion does it very well. While searching for the vets missing cat the kids happen upon a very large feral colony being fed by a couple of school age kids who use their allowance to buy cat food. The neighbors want Animal Control to take away all the ferals but the kids convince the vet to help and she introduces the community to "TVSR" which is an accronym I've never heard of but the author uses is for meaning "treat-vaccinate-spay-release"-most rescue groups use "TNR" for "Trap-Neuter-Return". With the exception of the use of the term "TVSR" the book very accurately explains how a feral cat colony gets there and addresses the issues of abandoned cats, raccoons being the main vector for rabies and the importance of responsible cat ownership. It is only 126 pages long and easy to read since it is written for pre-teens. This book would make a great addition to a shelter or rescue organizations library and sale table. It explains feral cat issues in the way of an interesting story.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Homeless, March 27, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Homeless: Sunita (Wild at Heart, Book 2) (Paperback)

I think this was one out of the series that was one of the most exciting books. It's about Maggie's friend, Sunita Patel. Sunita loves cats. She works as a vet volunteer at Dr. Mac's clinic. One day Sunita and her friends are walking home from school and they come across an open field with a ton of cats walking around. One of the cats are feral and hurt. They take him to Dr. Mac. The only trouble is, the two kids that were feeding the cats before Sunita got here is that their mother is raving mad about the kids being around feral cats. Sunita must persuade the kids mom that not all cats are bad. Will Sunita change her mind after she is bitten by one? Find out in Homeless.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Homeless Book :2 Sunita, November 28, 2000

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Homeless: Sunita (Wild at Heart, Book 2) (Paperback)

Homeless was a wonderful book. It had a very good example of Feral Cats. It was also very good at showing that an animal born in the wild should stay in the wild... free. I liked this book because I want to be a Vet when I grow up and I am very intersted in Vet Clinics and that is where most of the scenes take place. The book was very unpredictable and I could never put the book down. I felt like I just HAD to finish it. I thought Cat Land was a very interesting setting. I loved all the cats in the story. I liked all the characters alot. This book was truely amazing and seemed better then Harry Potter to me.