Sassycat is very smart and very strokable, but when her family moves house she isn’t happy. This home has some strange vibes, and the other animals in the neighbourhood aren’t very welcoming. She is warned off exploring around her home and is intrigued by the rules the other animals make. Why can’t she cross the creek or visit the other cat that lives in the cemetery?
Meantime Sassycat’s family are in turmoil themselves, especially Rebecca, who usually looks after Sassy. Rebecca is troubled by disturbing nightmares and her mother seems unable to help her. Fortunately for Rebecca, Sassycat is a confident and clever cat, who is determined to help her and the whole neighbourhood.
Sassycat is a divine fantasy/animal adventure. Told through the eyes of the cat, the story is a mixture of horror and humour, as Sassy and her animal friends take on some frightening spectres which are looking for some new bodies to inhabit. Author Richard Harland is surely a cat lover, with the reader almost able to forget that cats can’t talk, lost in the authenticity of Sassycat’s vanity, poise and egocentricity.
A must read for ages 10 and up, especially for cat lovers.
Sassycat, by Richard Harland
Omnibus, 2005