Introduction

Set amidst the chaos of the worst pandemic in history, the Black Death of the 14th century, Cats in the City of Plague tells the tale of a group of cats who are unfairly blamed for the plague.

The main character, Leander, and his fellow cats cannot understand why people they have trusted have turned against them. But they realize that their only hope of survival is to escape from the French city that has long been their home and return to the forests where, cat legend has it, their kind originally lived.

While evading the humans who seek to destroy them, the cats embark on what Booklife calls “a tense and dramatic journey through the city, powered by the danger and sacrifice inherent in tales of epic quests.”

Racing over rooftops, hiding in the cathedral’s crypt, can they make it out of the city before dawn reveals them? And if they do make it, can these city cats learn to live in the wild? The setting of a great pandemic will resonate with modern readers, but it’s the flight of these intrepid cats that makes Cats in the City of Plague an unforgettable story.

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Excerpt

Leander heard heavy, booted footsteps coming toward the stairs. He crouched lower to avoid being seen. A thick, squat man appeared as he leaned over the top step; he was dressed in heavy leather and he had a short sword in a scabbard on his belt. His face was weathered and scarred.

After a single step down, he called out in a kind of glee, “A minion of Satan!” Then he took another slow step down toward Leander, who did not move. He began to chuckle. “Come along, little cat...Let me pick you up...” And then another step...

Leander wondered why the man was using the name of Le Chat, but he knew it was sometimes used as a ruse by people who wished cats harm. And there was something about the way the man approached that told him he was in danger. His heart began beating rapidly and his fur puffed out on his tail.

He considered running back down the stairs, but when he turned to look, the guard in the shop, responding to the shout of his partner, had hurried to the bottom of the stairs.

“What’s the trouble, Eduard?”

Leander was trapped. Eduard descended slowly, turned sideways, taking one stair at a time.

His mouth was half open, his tongue sticking out between his teeth. “Nice cat.” A twisted smile on his face.

Now Leander was sure he was in danger, but he could only wait.

As the man stepped down to the stair just above Leander’s head, their eyes met for a moment, and Leander felt the immediate threat before Eduard could move in his direction. At the exact moment when the guard reached down to grab the cat, Leander lunged forward up the stairs between Eduard’s legs. Eduard, whose momentum was downward, could not stop himself when he tried vainly to reach back for Leander. Instead, with a cry, he tumbled headlong down the stairs, knocking the other guard over, both of them lying in a heap at the landing.

Eduard moaned, “My shoulder...I think it’s broken. The minion of Satan put a spell on me with his eyes! Someone help me!”

Leander ran into the room, almost tripping another guard who was running to aid Eduard. Leander saw Charles for the first time, a man as large as his voice, dressed in imposing magistrate’s black robes, a great head with slack, doughy cheeks and a large crushed black hat on his head. He seemed like a huge black shadow standing with his back to the sunlight from the opened shutters.

“Get that cat!” he bellowed. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

From the author:

1. How does the perspective of cats change how one sees and understands the plague?

2. The cats do not understand human speech but do recognize the names that they and others have been given. How does that lead to misunderstandings between the species?

3. Why does a pandemic lead to panic and confusion? How does the COVID pandemic relate to the depiction here of the pandemic called the Black Death?

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