The No Place Cat [Hardcover]

C. S. Adler (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

For a year, Tess has been trying to get used to her new stepfamily, but it just isn’t working. When a school project that she labored over is accidentally destroyed by her stepsister, and her dad and stepmom don’t seem to care at all, Tess has finally had it. She decides to run away and go live with her mom on the other side of Tucson. On the long walk there she acquires an unexpected companion: a gray-striped cat that follows her along the desert road. But nothing goes as planned after Tess and the cat finally reach Mom’s condo. Her mother seems more concerned with herself than with Tess, and she has a definite aversion to cats. Luckily for Tess, her new feline companion proves to be a reassuring presence as she struggles to face some difficult truths about herself and her family.
In this moving and realistic story, the unconditional love of an animal helps to heal a wounded teen.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grades 5-8--With a new stepmother, three little kids, lots of rules, and a father who never seems to be on her side, Tess feels like an outsider who cannot do anything right. When stepsister Annie ruins the project that she spent hours working on, the 12-year-old sets out on a long trek across Tucson for her mother's condo. The journey on foot is arduous, and the Arizona sun beats down mercilessly. Spending the night in a state park, she meets a stray cat that becomes her companion. When she arrives at her mother's home, Tess soon discovers that what may seem perfect from afar is very different up close. The wild, carefree woman is rarely home, and between boyfriends and business trips she has little time for parenting. In the end, Tess's father's persistence in wanting her back and her stepmother's dedication to helping her find the cat after it runs away make her take a second look at what she was running away from. This is an engaging story about what happens when families change and how too much freedom can make a child feel lonely.
Genevieve Gallagher, New York Public Library
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

This is an engaging story about what happens when families change and how too much freedom can make a child feel lonely.
School Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books; 1St Edition edition (April 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618096442
• ISBN-13: 978-0618096442
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,767,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay, but Tess's parents are LOSERS, February 3, 2009

By 

Gabrielle - See all my reviews

This review is from: The No Place Cat (Hardcover)

I thought this book was fine, not as good as "Ruthie's Gift" but still okay. I didn't like the girls' parents in the book though. They were such losers and so unlikeable and pathetic. I hated them. Tess was a nice girl and smart and pretty and nice and yet her parents treated her really badly. I don't blame her for running away from them. Her father is too hard on her like with grades and he doesn't care enough about her and doesn't understand her and gives her a bad time. He loves his new wife and kids more then her. She runs away and meets a cute cat while spending the night at a park. She takes the cat with her, because he's her new best friend. She runs away to her mom's house but her mother is EVEN more of a loser. She neglects her, and ignores her and blames her for everything and acts ten years younger then she is and says she's like her father and dates losers and is dangerous and leaves the poor kid alone by herself all day. She hates cats and refuses to let the girl keep it. Tess gives the cat to her best friend, Rita though she doesn't want to since she's fallen in love with it. Tess is sad and heartbroken, she has to put up with her iresponsible and mean and crazy and sick in the head mother. She gets phone calls from her worred and yet selfish and self-centered father and his evil wife. Tess is only 12, still a kid yet acts like an adult since she has no adults in her life to take care of her. She is very lonely and sad and hates living. The only bright spot is the cute cat she "adopted" into her life. Then her mother runs off with a wicked man, her father comes to get her. Her cat runs away, she finds him and takes him to the vet. The vet saves the cat, the girl is happy again and goes back to live with her father and his family since her mother left her. The girl discovers her father cares more about her then her mother, letting her keep the cat and saying he would take shots since he was allergic to them. Tess stays with her father and over the phone her witch of a mother tells her that she "loves" her. Tess doesn't know what to believe, but hangs up and is happy to have her cat and stepfamily. I hated the girl's mother. She was a LOSER. She was unlikeable, rude and a selfish self-centered nut case. Her father wasn't much promising either but did give her more then her stupid mother did. Tess was a nice, tomboyish wise-then-her years herioine. You ended up rooting for her to succeed. And she does. But I don't know what the author was aiming for with the parents. She created two of the most unlikeable, evil ugly parents that fiction has ever seen. And that's a fact. I hated the author for writing such awful characters. If you like a good kids book, try "Ruthie's Gift." It's much better.

5.0 out of 5 stars The No Place Cat review, October 21, 2003

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The No Place Cat (Hardcover)

The No Place Cat is a recent book I just read and I very much liked/enjoyed it!

5.0 out of 5 stars No Place Cat, February 5, 2003

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The No Place Cat (Hardcover)

Tess, a 12 yr. old girl, doesn't like to live with her dad. She has problems with Clare (her step mom) and her kids. One day, she brought home her Soc. Studies project (Tess's favorite subject)but Clare's kids wrecked it. Tess goes to live with her mom at her condo. Tess walks there and on the way she sees a cat that follows her to her mom's condo. Since Tess's mom doesn't like cats, Tess has to choose between living with her mom or keeping the cat.
What will she choose?
I would recommend this bok because it is very interesting. I mostly think it is for kids because it deals with a girl, a cat, and problems some of us kids face. You never know what'll happen next. Tess is a very clever girl. She'll have you guessing about what she will do next. C.S. Adler writes about incidents about real life. She is very creative in her writing and puts it in exciting parts that scare or excite you. In conclusion, I think kids of all ages should read this book because it is a realistic story by a very talented writer