Full Text Review(s)
"The old Cat Master has died, and a pair of brothers, one good and one evil, vie to inherit his mantle. As in Avi’s The Good Dog (Atheneum, 2001/VOYA December 2001), in which a single dog is recognized as head dog of Steamboat Springs, a single Cat Master reigns as spiritual leader of all the local felines in Pemberton’s cityscape. The good brother is Buddy, an easygoing ginger tom who has joined indoor cats Pris and Zekki in the home of a boy who rescued the injured Buddy from an alley. Buddy’s evil littermate, Jett, harbors an unreasoning hatred toward all humans and their domesticated cats. If Jett should become Cat Master, a destructive feud between the Indoors and the Ferals is certain to follow. Aided by a wisecracking lizard, a sleepy opossum, a brave German shepherd, and a pair of clever mockingbirds, Buddy’s friends risk highway crossings, animal control officers, and many other urban dangers to escort their candidate to The Gathering, where the next Cat Master will be acclaimed.

This urban animal fantasy will attract attention with its striking feline dust jacket illustration and appealing images of the story’s many animal characters on the front and back endpapers. Although it is a fantasy featuring animals with advanced communication skills, the physical setting is a tough, gritty inner city. The dangers of this environment for wandering cats and dogs are vividly portrayed; however, any animal safety message is undercut when some of the feline heroes elect to remain outdoors at tale’s end."