(1 customer review)
Publication Date: 28 Jul 2020
Categories: Young Children
ISBN: 9781913208585A nature-loving cat and her conservationist mum team up to save endangered species!
Boo the tabby cat is born on a Lincolnshire farm and seems destined for a simple life. Everything changes when she’s put up for adoption and is taken in by Ellie Caldwell, an adventurous Cambridge graduate student who loves animals and is studying to become a wildlife conservationist.
Between lectures, Ellie heads to the countryside for camping trips, her Instagram-anointed ‘adventure cat’ in tow. On rocky trails, Boo discovers that, like Ellie, she has a passion for the natural world, and because she’s able to communicate with all animals, she can relate their challenges back to Ellie. But there’s a serious problem: whenever Boo tries to tell Ellie something, all Ellie hears is "Meow."
Can they work out a communication system, and in doing so, save endangered animals from harm while encouraging public support of nature and wildlife?
Millie Kerr is an author, journalist and photographer focused on wildlife conservation. A former lawyer, Millie uses storytelling to help people see splendour and fragility of the natural world. Her creative essays and reported articles—which predominantly involve travel and wildlife—have appeared in dozens of top-tier American and British publications, among them The Economist, National Geographic Traveller, Popular Science, and The Wall Street Journal. Millie has also worked for numerous global conservation NGOs, both as an in-house writer and an external consultant; and her legal career saw her working in private practice and government. She graduated from the University of Cambridge with a Masters of Philosophy in Conservation Leadership and has lived between the UK and USA for fifteen years. Her adopted cat, Baboon, has been her constant companion, although unlike their fictitious counterparts, they only enjoy indoor adventures.
Tessa S - 11 Apr, 2021
This was a fun Middle Grade read about a conservation student and her adopted cat. Once Ellie and Boo discover they are able to talk to each other, they work together to campaign against the Badger Cull.
As a conservationist I loved the theme, and I am excited for younger people to read these sorts of stories and hopefully be inspired. I think that many of the struggles that Boo faces while running the campaign are similar to how kids feel.
My only criticism would be the lack of acknowledgement that house cats are actually a huge conservation threat to birds. I think that it could have been an interesting storyline to have Boo reckon with that as well.
I received this copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.