Oona and her five-year-old brother Fred are still mourning the loss of their father, who died of cancer, when their cat, Zook (named for his love of zucchini) also falls ill. Determined to protect her brother from any more sadness, Oona tells him that cats have nine lives, and Zook is only on his fifth. Continuing a tradition begun by their father, Oona begins using rebuses to tell Fred stories about Zook's other lives. In the meantime, Oona struggles to deal with the fact that she may have stolen Zook, and from none other than the man her mother has just begun dating.
I am not a cat person, but I loved One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street so much that I knew I wanted to read Joanne Rocklin's next book, regardless of the subject matter. The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook, like Orange Street, demonstrates Rocklin's unique way with language that sets her books apart from other contemporary middle grade novels. In Orange Street, it was her use of different points of view that made the story so strong and emotional. Here, the use of memories and stories add emotional depth to what turns out to be much more than a sad pet story. In fact, thanks to Oona's spirited and uplifting narrative voice, this book didn't make me very sad at all. Even when Oona faces difficulties, her optimism and desire to help her brother buoyed my spirits and kept me looking on the bright side, rather than wallowing in melodrama.
Another strength of this book is the strong sense of setting. The alley where Oona and Fred first find Zook, the pizza restaurant where they sometimes work, and the animal hospital where Zook is a patient are all conveyed with such colorful details that I could imagine them vividly. Place isn't necessarily central to the story, as it was in Orange Street, but being immersed in Oona's world made her that much more credible as a character, and that much more interesting to read about.
I did struggle at times to keep track of all that was happening in the story. This book takes on a lot for just one novel - loss of a parent, illness of a pet, memory, friendship, storytelling, learning to read, sibling relationships, parents going on dates - and at times, it felt like too much. It took me a while to get an understanding of what the real story was, and even then, I felt distracted by Oona's stories. But what I did think was maybe the most clever thing about the entire book was the subtle ways in which Oona's stories were influenced by the events happening around her. Each story that she tells to Fred exists not in isolation, but as a product of Oona's state of mind at the time of the telling. I think the fact that the details of her stories obviously parallel people and events from her life really saves the storytelling framework of the book from becoming a gimmick and ties the entire book together in a very satisfying way.
It would be hard for any book to match One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street in my estimation, since it spoke to me on so many levels and is so beautifully crafted, but The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook was not a disappointment by any means. It's a great book for cat lovers, girls with little brothers, any child who has lost a parent, and especially classrooms learning about storytelling. It's hard
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