Cats are really interesting animals.  Many of us have a cat around the house without knowing much about the history of cats.  According to this little book, cats haven’t been kept as pets nearly as long as dogs have been people’s pets.  Still, people have admired their beauty and their skill as mouse catchers for about 4,000 years. 

The people in Northern Africa kept the crops they grew in huge storage units called granaries.  Rats and mice came around and ate much of the stored food.  The people saw that the wild cats would hang around and kill the rats and mice.  People began to reward the cats with care and attention.  So, gradually, cats gave themselves over more and more to the care of people. 

Over the centuries, cats have been willing to live with humans, but they still don’t like to be bossed around.  Unlike dogs, cats do things because they want to, not because they want to please people. 

Mutations – sudden changes in hereditary makeup – are what caused many of the color and other differences in cats. Now there are many kinds of domesticated cats.  Some have long hair, some short hair.  Some are broad and heavy, while some are slender and light in weight.

This little book tells you how to understand your cat.  If you know more about cats in general and especially how to understand your cat’s behavior, you can enjoy your pet a lot more.  You will be happier and so will your cat. 

The 65 page paperback book’s title is “Cats” and it was written by Katrin Behrend, an animal book writer and editor who has owned cats for many years. The publisher is Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., published in 1999 and selling for $6.95 in paperback. If you love cats, the color pictures are worth the price of the book.
 
 

“Nancy Drew: The Secret in the Stars” has as its main character an 18 year-old girl who wears her hair in a ponytail and drives a Mustang convertible.  This paperback, published in 2000, relates the latest adventures of a very famous fictional heroine, who has now had more than 150 mystery books written about her over more than 50 years.

“The Secret in the Stars” starts out with Nancy Drew, along with a couple of her friends, driving her convertible to a “star watch” party at a nearby state park.  A famous radio personality, Dr. Stars, was bringing in his large telescope and going to give those in attendance a chance to see star formations that they probably hadn’t seen before.  The young people were excited to be meeting Dr. Stars, after having listened to him on their radios over the years. 

Unfortunately, Dr. Stars doesn’t appear to be around.  Nancy finds his telescope, but it had been knocked over in a mysterious manner.   His van and other equipment had been left in the park. 

Why had Dr. Stars disappeared?  Did it have anything to do with the fact that Will Ryder and Isabel Ramos-Garcia, famous entertainment celebrities, were preparing for their wedding at an estate just at the edge of the state park?  Did Derek Randall, the angry and jealous astronomy professor from a nearby college, have anything to do with Dr. Stars’ disappearance?  Why were the security people, hired to keep people away from the celebrities, so mean to Nancy and her friends?  Could Nancy find the real Dr. Stars before something really bad happened to him?

With some help from her father, who is a lawyer in town, and unexpected help from a woman Nancy thought was one of the bad guys, Nancy solves the mystery and everything turns out okay.  The happy ending comes, though, only after a lot of twists and turns in the plot.

If you like mystery and action stories with a smart and likable young heroine, Nancy Drew books are worth your looking into.  They are published by Pocket books and sell for $3.99.
 
 

“Replica” is part of the continuing name of a series of science fiction books for young readers. “Replica, the Beginning “ is number 14 in the series.  As the title suggests, this book explains how things got started in the first place. The main character is a seventh grader named Amy.  She is a member of her middle school’s student council.  The seventh grade class trip is being planned.  A special grant has provided extra money for the students’ trip.  They can go anyplace they want.

Amy is pleased because the group decides to go to Washington, D.C.  It just happens that Amy is a clone.  She knows it.  She knows the woman that she calls her mother brought her to California from Washington, D. C. Her scientist mother seems not to want to talk much about how she came to have Amy to raise as her daughter.  The class trip gives Amy the chance she has always wanted to find out more about her own origin. 

As you can probably guess, things get complicated in Washington, D.C.  There has to be a mystery.  There are bound to be good guys and bad guys.  Because she is a laboratory created clone, Amy is smarter and stronger than most girls her age.  Along with all her smartness and strength, luckily, Amy has the company of her closest friend.  Together, they solve the mystery and overcome the bad guys so they can return to their happy lives in California. 

Somehow you know at the end that there are still more evil villains who will come into Amy’s unusual life.  Otherwise, there would not be any volume 15 in the series. However, since we are told that number 15 will be called “Replica, the Transformation,” we know the story continues. 
 
 

The book begins with its main character being questioned by a judge in a courtroom. Rick Walker is a fourteen-year-old in trouble.  In his frustration and anger, he had thrown rock after rock at a stop sign while returning after school to the group home in which he had been placed.  Abandoned by his mother, Rick had lived with his grandmother until her death when he was ten.  After that he had lived in different foster homes and been moved from school to school. He didn’t know how to explain to the judge why he had acted as he did.  Because he had been before the judge once before, Rick was sentenced to six months at the Blue Canyon Youth Detention Center in Nevada.

While in Blue Canyon, Rick observed guards illegally selling the school’s new air conditioners and pocketing the money.  He quietly told his social worker what he had seen. Somehow the guards found out. With just six weeks to go before he was to be released, Rick had to escape in order to get away from severe beatings or, possibly, even worse. 

Rick managed to hitch hike across the state line.  He heard his description broadcast on the radio.  In his desperation, he hid in a camper shell on the back of a pickup truck.  Hours later, he found he was deep into the mountains and canyons of Utah. 

Rick had been driven into the remote camp of bird biologist, Lon Pelegrino.  Lon is trying to release young condors back into the wild.  His purpose is to bring these giant vulture-like birds back from near extinction.  While staying with Lon and helping him out with his work, Rick comes to respect him and share his love for trying to save the condors.  Rick is further attracted to Ron’s life-style when he is allowed to participate in Ron’s favorite pastime – hang gliding.  Rick feels like he is finally breaking out of the maze, which had been his life up to that time. 

It isn’t all fun and games while Rick and Ron come to respect each other and build a close friendship. There is a pair of men who, with the help of their vicious pit bull, are bent on getting rid of Rick and Ron and bringing the condor project to an end.  “The Maze” by Will Hobbs, published by Avon Books, and selling for $4.95 is about as exciting a book as a boy could find to read.