This is a fabulous book, and so unlike the usual things that I like to read. I spent all day today looking forward to finishing it, and just did about half an hour ago. Now I can't wait for the sequel to come in at the library...

What I will recommend most about this book is how thoroughly sucked in I was. I was honestly gasping at some parts, like, how much worse can things possibly get for poor Travis?

This is such a well-written, wonderful book. I just loved it. ( )

Looking for a fresh start, Travis and his father moved to a tiny town in Newfoundland. Travis' father immediately settles into his role as the town doctor, but Travis, still grieving over the loss of his mother, struggles to find his place. When a bully marks Travis as his target on Travis' first day of school, Travis knows that his new town will never be home. But then Travis discovers a group of wild cats, who will certainly freeze to death during the fierce Canadian winter...unless Travis can figure out a way to help them.

Travis' battles--to make friends, save the cats, defeat the bully, conquer his grief and find a home--drew me in immediately. Readers of all ages will relate to this book, but middle school boys in particular will devour MacLean's first book. AND, I just discovered that MacLean wrote a follow-up book about one of the female characters, Prinny Murphy. How cool would it be for the girls in a 6th grade class to read Prinny's story and the boys to read Travis' story? Or better yet, the girls can read from the boys point-of-view, and the boys can read from the girls'. ( )

My 10-year-old daughter read this book, and I'm providing, with her permission, her review (unedited by me). This book is one of the Ontario Library Association's Silver Birch Award nominees for 2010.

Travis and his dad move to a tiny town in Newfoundland, Canada after Travis's mom dies of cancer. Travis goes to school and meets Prinny, a girl with unkempt hair; Hector, an usual boy who builds birdhouses; and Hud, the school bully. One day, Travis goes down to Gulley Cove, and finds a whole band of cats! He names them: Blackie, Felix, Patches, Cloud, Ghost, and Rocky. Travis enlists Prinny and Hector to help him feed and protect the cats..... but will his dad find out?

The cats in the story are very unique. Felix, for example, is very defensive, but at the end, he ends up sleeping on Travis's chest! Blackie, at the start, is scared of humans, but at the end, gets more used to people. When Hector's mom comes over to Travis's house, Blackie yawns and purrs and does not try to hide, like she did at Gulley Cove! Aren't these cats peculiar?

In conclusion, I really liked this book, and I would recommend it to anyone. ( )