The Horn Book Guide

INTERMEDIATE FICTION

Gallico, Paul

The Abandoned

309 pp. | NYRB | April, 2013 | Trade ISBN 978-1-5901-7626-9 $15.95
Reissue (1950, Knopf)

(2) 4-6 New York Review Children's Collection series. Little boy Peter's accidental transformation into a cat and his partnership with fellow London stray cat Jennie is made believable through the power of Gallico's storytelling, the naturalness of his dialogue, and the vividness of his settings and characterization. Filled with adventure, intrigue, and magic, The Abandoned's fast-moving, peripatetic plot comes to a heart-wrenching yet ultimately happy ending.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 1950