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Summary
Summary
A swashbuckling story of two very different cat brothers and their adventures at sea.
Cecil and Anton are as different as port and starboard. Cecil, stocky and black with white patches, thirsts for seafaring adventure as he roams the docks of his harborside home, taking day trips on fishing boats when the chance comes along. Slim, gray Anton prefers listening to the sailors' shanties at the town saloon. But one day when Anton goes to port, he's taken to be a ratter on a ship bound for the high seas.
Knowing little of the wide open ocean that lies beyond the harbor, Cecil boards another ship in hopes of finding Anton. But what begins as a rescue mission turns into a pair of high-seas adventures.
Anton takes on a fierce rat, outwits hungry birds, and forges a forbidden friendship, while Cecil encounters dolphins and whales and finds himself in the middle of a pirate raid. On an ocean as vast as the one Anton and Cecil have discovered, will they ever see home--or each other--again?
Orange Prize-winning author Valerie Martin and Lisa Martin present a colorful cast of characters, rich historical detail, and lyrical storytelling that will delight fans of such classic animal adventures as The Wind in the Willows , Stuart Little , and Poppy .
Author Notes
Valerie Martin is the author of six novels & two collections of short fiction, including "Italian Fever", "The Great Divorce", & "Mary Reilly". She lived in Italy for three years & now resides in upstate New York.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (6)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Feline brothers Anton and Cecil have different ideas about how life should be lived. "Don't be a chicken, be a cat. Be adventurous!" cries Cecil. "But every cat couldn't be like Cecil. And every cat didn't need to hear about it," thinks Anton. Cecil loves to befriend fishermen and steal rides on boats, while fastidious Anton prefers to listen to music at the local saloon and nap. As (bad) luck would have it, Anton is abducted and brought aboard a barque, the Mary Anne, as a ratter. Cecil is one step behind on the Leone, determined to save his brother, and they use their wits to survive while making unlikely animal allies. Adult author Valerie Martin (Property), writing with her niece Lisa, make their children's book debut with a quaint mix of adventure and legend. While some characters' appearances are fleeting and a mysterious event toward the end of the book goes unexplained, the story is rich with seafaring vocabulary and nautical adventure. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8-12. Author agent: Molly Friedrich, the Friedrich Agency. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
This illustrated feline adventure involves stray cat brothers in seafaring escapades. When Anton is taken aboard a large vessel, Cecil stows away on an improbable rescue mission with the next departing ship. Lyrical language and historically rich settings featuring rowdy sailors, pirates, danger, and intrigue are marred by an unresolved and confusing incident, making this whimsical fantasy less satisfying than it might otherwise have been. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Brother cats Anton and Cecil, along with their friend Gretchen, each encounter unexpected adventures when they leave their home on the eighteenth-century Lunenburg waterfront and board separate ocean-bound ships. Adventurous Cecil first boards a fishing boat and then, when Anton is catnapped to serve as a ratter aboard a schooner, stows away on a clipper to pursue his brother. Gretchen, too, is taken unwillingly and finds herself aboard a pirate ship. Eloquent and accessible, this well-paced story moves from cat-perspective to cat-perspective as the three eventually meet again and find their way home to safety. The strong, distinct personalities of cats, people, and a handful of other creatures make this a delightful tale, even for readers who aren't cat lovers, and Murphy's occasional black-and-white illustrations are a pleasant complement to the story. In addition to being an excellent choice for read-alouds, the Martins' vivid descriptions of seafaring life catcentric wisdom aside may invite further exploration into maritime tales and history.--Goldsmith, Francisca Copyright 2010 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
EVEN FOR TWO cats lucky enough to be born in the fishing port of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, in its 19th-century heyday, the usual rules of sibling rivalry apply. "Don't be a chicken, be a cat! Be adventurous!" Cecil, hearty and omnivorous, taunts his brother Anton, who would rather doze off to sea chanteys than chase rodents. But when Anton is pressed into service as a mouser on the bark Mary Anne, he's forced to exert himself as never before. Cecil, hoping to catch up with his brother, stows away aboard another ship and finds he is not always as popular at sea as he was at home. Lisa Martin, a poet, and her aunt Valerie Martin, author of the adult novels "Property" and "The Confessions of Edward Day," collaborated on this middle-grade novel, remarkable for its delicate use of language (a female cat is "a petite thief in the dark night") and for its watertight descriptions of seafaring. Though a benign natural magic speeds the brothers to their reunion, the Martins are careful that everything the cats do is within the range of real-world feline abilities. The story is engrossing and unpredictable, with likable heroes and charming accomplices: a traumatized mouse named Hieronymus, and Gretchen, a young cat who has been alone on her ship for so long she's forgotten how to make friends. There's even a bit of history lurking in the background: Anton hitches a ride on a ship that has the captain's wife and toddler aboard. One day, the humans on board simply disappear - as they did on the Mary Celeste, a real ship found abandoned near Gibraltar in 1872. The Martins wisely don't burden their adventure with such hard facts, and throughout, the cats have a lack of concern for their human companions which seems authentically catlike and serves to keep their Odyssey focused and light on its feet. Kelly Murphy ("Secrets at Sea" and "Behind the Bookshelf") illustrates the story with occasional full-page black-and- white ink wash paintings. Though the restricted palette is disappointing after the subtle, rich hues of the book's colored jacket, the scenes depicted have their own drama: encounters with murderous rats and pirates, an iguana with feathers and Shakespeare-quoting dolphins. In keeping with the cat's-eye view of the world, Murphy's human figures look wooden - like marionettes or nutcrackers - while Anton and Cecil are all lithe grace and flashing eyes, leaping from dock to deck, or crouching behind wooden crates, ready to pounce on a fisherman's catch. As the cats continue on their voyages, there's a riddle to be solved, aided by fortuitous currents and an all-seeing whale. With their relationship set on a fresh course, and a new appreciation for the world away from home, the cats return to Lunenburg. It's a measure of the Martins' success with this surprising debut that the cats' triumph feels so credible and, to the formerly sparring brothers, profound. SARAH HARRISON SMITH is the children's book editor at the Book Review.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Two cat brothers who live on a busy dock couldn't be more different. Anton is thoughtful, cautious, and content with his life, particularly when he is able to listen to the music of sailors in the local taverns. Cecil is impulsive, curious, and keen to have an adventure aboard one of the many ships that sail in and out of the port every day. All the local cats live under the threat of being impressed to hunt rats and mice. Many who are seized are never seen again. So when Anton is snatched and taken aboard a huge ship, Cecil boards another vessel in order to find him and bring him home. Separated on a vast ocean, the brothers have adventures beyond their wildest dreams as they seek to be reunited with the help of a mysterious cat eye in the sky. The story is well paced with descriptive language that firmly places readers in the midst of dangerous storms, sea battles, and islands full of strange animals. The legend of the eye that watches over cats at sea adds an interesting supernatural element, though a scene in which all of the humans on one of the ships vanish will have readers scratching their heads in confusion. Nevertheless, children who like animal fantasies such as Avi's Poppy (Scholastic, 1995) will find much to enjoy here.-Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
This collaboration by a respected author of literary fiction and her niece, an educator and writer of poetry for children, is an odd mix of talking cats, oceangoing adventure and mystical events. Slender, gray Anton and large, black Cecil are not much alike, but, readers are told, the brothers love one another and enjoy their mostly peaceful life as stray cats in a seaside town. Pensive Anton enjoys listening to the sailors singing in the local saloon; adventurous Cecil prefers to pace along the dock, seeking sustenance and occasionally spending a day on board a fishing boat. Their low-key lives change dramatically when Anton is taken to sea against his will, and Cecil sets out to find him and bring him home. The plot is carefully woven, the vocabulary rich and distinctive, and the characters engaging (particularly Hieronymus, a hilariously loquacious mouse). Unfortunately, the overall effect is confusing rather than charming. The decision not to explain a key turning point may leave readers perplexed and even troubled, while other details fall just a bit too short of the fantastic to seem truly magical or rely on exceedingly unlikely coincidences. Cat lovers will be sorry to see Anton and Cecil suffer indifference and outright abuse from sailors and pirates, as well as facing other dangers, but they're still not likely to care overmuch about the eventual resolution. (Fantasy. 9-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
