The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa, translated by Philip Gabriel, 277 pagesNana the cat was a stray before Satoru took him in, and in the five years they've lived together, the cat and his human companion managed to form a loving bond. But now Satoru is seeking someone to adopt Nana, for reasons that he does not explain to either the cat (who can, of course, understand him perfectly, despite what humans seem to think) or to any of the friends he asks to take the cat.
Much like the wonderful memoir Cats I've Known, The Travelling Cat Chronicles isn't so much the story of a cat as it is the story of Satoru's life. It's a wonderful, beautiful story of an independent and intelligent boy making friends as he moves from one part of the country to another, told through flashbacks and punctuated by modern-day sections, some of which are from Nana's point of view (which, I've got to say, is a fantastic point of view). I loved Arikawa's sparse, beautiful writing (wonderfully translated by Philip Gabriel), which gives the same sense of peace and adventure that I get from watching My Neighbor Totoro. A truly wonderful book.
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