Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tales

My Life As A Cat by Carlie Sorosiak

My Life As A Cat is proof that even books meant for young people can be perfect for adults. What a kind, sweet, touching, wonderful story this was.

The plot is about an alien. His people are both immortal and a hivemind -- they're all small parts of a single, planet-wide whole. They have no names and feel no emotions. On their 300th birthday, they're permitted to go to Earth to spend a month as a species of their choice. (This lets them both bring new memories back to the hive and to show them that their people's way is better.)

The nameless main character has done his research and decided to be a human park ranger in Yellowstone. He's done a ton of research on how humans act, what the job requires, and has a long bucket list of things he wants to do (including sleep in a tent, go bowling, eat a cheese sandwich, and have a variety of pens for different uses).

Due to a technical error, instead of showing up as a park ranger in Yellowstone, he appears on Earth as a cat in the middle of a big storm (hurricane/tropical storm). He appears on a branch, not knowing even how to use his cat-body, and is rescued by a girl.

I'm not sure if the girl (Olive) was supposed to be autistic or if she was just very intelligent and thus "weird" to her peers. It could be read either way. She and the cat (who she names Leonard) become close friends, not just owner and pet.

Leonard only has 30 days on Earth, then he has to be picked up by the rest of his people. The problem is, the pick up location is in Yellowstone, and turns out Leonard is in South Carolina. Because of that, he has to break his people's most basic rule and tell Olive he's an alien.

Because this story was told through the eyes of an alien (an alien who loves humanity and Earth), we got such a positive view of people and the world. It was a treasure to read. But the author didn't just love people and the world, it's clear he loved cats, too. There was a line I really liked. Olive was very upset by something, Leonard reacted:

"All I could do was offer her a long, unblinking stare, my eyes half-slits. For cats, there is no greater gesture."

This wasn't just a YA book, it was MG, so meant for even younger readers. I'd like to say that because of that, the book was too short, but in truth it was the perfect length. No padding, but enough length to tell the story.

Because it was MG (and because it was told from the cat/alien's POV), there were a few small jarring moments for adult readers (some things happened too fast, but they would have been handled between adults off-screen). Those didn't do anything to lessen the enjoyment of the story though, they just made me blink for a moment.