The Cat at the Wall

October 6, 2014
"The best thing about being a cat is that nothing is my fault," says 13-year-old Clare, who died in Bethlehem, Pa., and has been reincarnated as a cat in another Bethlehemâthe one in the West Bank. As a human girl, Clare taunted her sister, manipulated her parents, and butted heads with her homeroom teacher; these and other memories are triggered by Clare's current situation, as the narrative nimbly jumps between past and present. In Israel, Clare witnesses the horrors of life in a war zone on both sides of the "Big Wall." Her life mainly consists of foraging for food until two soldiers with the Israel Defense Forcesâone American, one Israeli, and each with his own motives for being in the army and beliefs about the conflictâcommandeer a Palestinian house to do surveillance on a neighboring building; Clare decides to help the traumatized boy hiding in the house. Ellis's (No Ordinary Day) premise is an unusual one, but with it she crafts a thought-provoking and sensitive story about the power of empathy and selflessness. Ages 9â12.

September 1, 2014

Gr 5 Up-Clare was a girl from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. At 13, she dies and finds herself transformed into a cat, living in Bethlehem, Israel. As a girl, she always wanted to be the center of attention, so being an ignored stray seems cruel. She follows two Israeli soldiers into a seemingly empty house on the West Bank. As the situation escalates with the discovery of a young Palestinian boy, Clare reflects on her actions during her last year of life as a human. Set on Israel's West Bank, the harsh reality of the story is tempered by the first-person narration of a cat who understands all languages. Ellis is neutral; she doesn't take sides, nor does she attempt to explain the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead, the miscommunication and actions of the individual characters are examined. The characters' complexities are slowly revealed, adding layers to the story. Readers are plunged into the narrative, in the same way Clare must face her new feline life. The narrative alternates between the present on the West Bank and flashbacks to Clare's life as a human. The pacing is appropriately measured, and the setting is vividly described-concisely but evocatively conveying tension, unease, and instability. Although slightly homiletical, the moral of personal responsibility is wrapped in a touching, unforgettable story. It is an excellent choice for book clubs and classroom use, and will easily evoke discussion.-Amy Seto Musser, Denver Public Library

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 15, 2014
One minute, Clare is a middle school student in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, but the next, she is in Bethlehem-"the real one"-and she's a cat. Thus begins Ellis' thought-provoking and extremely accessible exploration of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the eyes of a reflective stray cat (with a wry sense of humor) who finds refuge in a one-room house south of Bethlehem in the West Bank. Two Israeli soldiers, one ignorant and the other wiser and more compassionate, have commandeered it as a surveillance post, but the cat soon realizes there's a small Palestinian boy hiding beneath the floorboards and having trouble breathing...and where are his parents? Through suspenseful and compelling prose, the author presents the situation with evenhandedness and emphasizes the importance of context; she trusts that young readers can understand a great deal. Even so, the manner in which this story is told skews young, making the treatment of at least one horrific act of violence feel a little superficial. In some ways, the skillfully integrated mirror narrative, that of Clare the girl approximately a year earlier, is more nuanced. Usually an A student and a master at flying under her teachers' radars while performing small (and large) acts of meanness, when she encounters "Ms. Zero" and accrues 75 detentions (served by copying out the inspirational poem "Desiderata"), everything changes. Quietly moving, full of surprises and, with Clare's colloquial and spirited voice, highly readable. (Fiction. 10-13)

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September 15, 2014
Grades 5-8 Pretty, smart, manipulative, and spoiled, Clare is a mean girl growing up in Pennsylvania. She meets her match in Ms. Zero, her eighth-grade teacher, who makes her copy Max Ehrmann's poem Desiderata. Then Clare dies and miraculously comes back as a scrawny cat living on the West Bank. One day, feline Clare follows two Israeli soldiers as they slip into a small, empty Palestinian house and discovers a small Arab boy hiding there. The soldiers are worried about the welfare of the child, whose only words are from Desiderata, which he endlessly recites. Clare's revealing story alternates between flashbacks to her embattled year with Ms. Zero and the present escalating crises, as the local people discover the soldiers and surround the house. There are no black and whites here, only ordinary people caught in the tangle of history, misunderstanding, and fear. The self-centered Clare provides an effective entry point for young readers into the murky waters of this tragic conflict. Ellis' intriguing, unusual tale should give readers much to think aboutboth on the domestic and international fronts.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)