I bought this delightful book in 1969 from Scholastic Books, in school. I carried it around in an armload of textbooks and binders for a long time, intending to but never reading it. I wish I read it way back then! I happened upon an original copy of it in a thrift store last weekend and I bought it for 79 cents. I read it and loved it.

I identified with the young man Dave because he has a dysfunctional family, weird friends and a cat he dearly loves. Plus, he and his "Pop" are both stormy. That was me! This book cuts to the heart of relationships. I was amazed at how well the author wrote across gender, a woman writing from the perspective of a young teenage boy. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of Cat and his antics. I think the title is what first sold me on the book, when I was a kid. I've always liked cats.
I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages, whether you like cats or not.

"It's Like This, Cat" was a book I read as a child just because I wanted to, not a school assignment, not a parental suggestion, just my choice at the library. I loved it, and I still remember it today, and I'm now 52 years old. It's that well written and memorable, yet it's not really about anything monumental - just a child finding a friend in a cat. Highly recommended to any child who thinks no one understands, and that might be every child. It will make sense and leave a lasting impression.

Made me extremely sad that the author had to kill off a kitten, AND in a terrible way as well.

What was the point? There were so many other alternatives for ending this book....!

I wonder what the target-age-group limit is on Newbery Award winners. This particular Neville title seems to be more of a young-adult book than anything else. It's about supporting character Tom, and his journey from a rough youth to a responsibly engaged man. But when the story of Tom feels like taking a break, other things pop up for us to read about. Main character Dave gets himself a girlfriend (but we never discover what becomes of the relationship), a crazy lady inherits a million bucks, red lizards are studied through research, Jewish holidays are celebrated, and Dave's cat goes around acting like a cat. I've always been a fan of such delightfully random events.

I had two major misconceptions of this novel before reading it. First, I thought the book would be about Dave telling Cat all his problems in tasteful soliloquy fashion, just to get adolecent problems off his chest. I also thought Cat was going to die after I discovered that the author's cat had passed away a year before the publication date. Well, Dave doesn't tell Cat about his problems, and a little kitten gets killed instead of Dave's cat.

I had fun reading this well-written, laid-back novel, and I'd recommend it to people of all ages. Even during the most dramatic of scenes, the book doesn't seem to shake its nice, calm mood.