The Metro Cats: Life in the Core of the Big Apple - Softcover

De Simone, Joanne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1938281748 ISBN 13: 9781938281747

Publisher: Dream Garden Publications, 2015

Synopsis

Follow the adventures of a colony of cats living on the streets of metropolitan New York City, as they face danger, find love, and reunite with long lost family in the Big Apple. Lauren, a pampered uptown cat, becomes stranded in a snowstorm and is rescued by a tabby named Buster, a seasoned street cat. They fall in love, but tragedy tears them apart Left to fend for herself, Lauren gives birth to three kittens, who are soon forced to survive on their own in Manhattan, after Lauren is captured and whisked away from them. When their sister, Blanche, is taken from them by a kind lady, Sally and Roger make a home for themselves in a secluded west side alley, and invite their new friends, Maxine, Veronica, and Walter, to form a colony, where they all live in harmony. Roaming the streets are the Scratches, a renegade band of antagonistic cats, recognized by their visible “battle scars.” Always on the prowl for action, they are joined by a dejected, friendless Buster. By chance, Blanche is reunited with her siblings. When Sally is caught by Animal Control, Roger enlists the aid of their estranged father, Buster, and his scrappy companions, to help the colony cats rescue Sally and to find their mother, Lauren.

About this title

About the Author:

Joanne de Simone is an author, dramatist and film historian. Two of her plays, The Suicide Angel, and Earthmen, are currently in film pre-production, and several one-acts have been produced in NYC theatre festivals. Joanne’s, Judy’s Dead, took first prize in the Writer’s Digest 79th Annual Stage Play Competition. Ms. de Simone’s full-length play, Olivia’s Roses, debuted at NYC’s Thespis Theater Festival in September 2015. Her film review column appeared in the Fire Island News from 1998-2003 and returned for the 2015 season. Joanne’s work has been published in various magazines, publications, and film journals. She has written a children’s book, The Metro Cats: Life in the Core of the Big Apple, and a young adult book, The Curious Plight of Milicent Wryght, both urban tales set in Manhattan. Joanne is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the English Speaking Union, the Shakespeare Guild, the Episcopal Actors Guild, the Drama League, is a board member of the Veronica Moscoso Foundation, and served as a judge for the 2015-2016 Hudson River Classics Showcase Theater playwriting contest.

Review:

Parents, teachers, caregivers---you might want to consider Joanne de Simone's little urban tale, The Metro Cats: life in the Core of the Big Apple (Gazebo Gardens Publishing). Ages 9-12 are particularly invited in, but the story about the bonding and affection of feral cats forming a family and attracting friends may also appeal to younger readers. De Simone, a dramatist and film reviewer, has a sweet story lo tell about the kind of cats that usually don't figure in fiction. A colony struggling to survive in the city, these wild ones struggle every day to find food and survive challenges from other cats and from animal control. They are the Metro Cats, constituting a self-styled, sophisticated, cosmopolitan feline underworld in Manhattan (they are joined for a short while by Carson and Neville, cats from California locked accidentally in a truck that made its way to New York). There's Lauren, for example, a classy uptown cat, who falls for big, awkward Buster, who adores her and is at the center of a plan to rescue her when she's picked up by Animal Control and her three babies are left alone. A scrappy, tough­ looking, boastful bunch from the West Side known as The Scratches has adopted Buster. The style is simple, the incidents touching and the theme edifying. There are also references that may go over the heads or some youngsters---the World Trade Center, Anderson Cooper reading the news on TV. Still, Metro Cats, by way of anthropomorphism, makes the case to be kind to feline street urchins who seem here more capable of compassion, domestic harmony and loyalty than many humans. The book features illustrations by Jeff Cheney. --Dans Papers

About this edition

• Publisher: Dream Garden Publications
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1938281748
• ISBN 13: 9781938281747
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 179
• Editor: Moore C. E.
• Illustrator: Cheney Jeff