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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
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English
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DA VINCI'S CAT

Catherine Gilbert Murdock

DA VINCI'S CAT is a delightful tale of unlikely friendship, Renaissance art, and a time-traveling cat who once belonged to Leonardo Da Vinci himself.
Federico doesn't mind being a political hostage of the Pope, especially now that he has a cat as a friend. But he must admit that a kitten walking into a wardrobe and returning full-grown a moment later is quite odd. Even more bizarre is the man named Herbert, apparently an art collector from the future, who emerges from the wardrobe the next night. Herbert barters with Federico to get a sketch signed by the famous painter Raphael, but his plans take a dangerous turn when he hurries back to his era, desperate to save a dying girl.

Meanwhile, in the present day, there's Bee, a girl who is creeped out by her strange elderly neighbor. When that neighbor shows Bee a sketch that perfectly resembles her, Bee, frightened, solidifies her resolve to stay away. But then she meets a cat and discovers a mysterious cabinet in her neighbor's attic - a cabinet that leads her to Renaissance Rome. Bee, who has learned about the painters Raphael and Michelangelo in school, never expected she'd get to meet them and see them paint their masterpieces. But here they are, and here, too, is a boy her age named Federico, who claims that her cat is really his cat.

As the two bounce back and forth between Renaissance Rome and the present-day, it becomes clear that Bee's arrival in Rome is no coincidence, and that they need to find a way to convince the painter Raphael to sketch Bee - to create the sketch that hangs in her neighbor's house - before time unravels, and Bee's life in the present becomes a thing of the past.

Funny, charming, and always surprising, DA VINCI'S CAT is an original and compelling time-slip adventure inspired by real history. It will include black-and-white spot art throughout by Caldecott Medalist Paul O. Zelinsky.

Catherine Gilbert Murdock is a former academic and the author of seven novels for children and young adults. Her most recent novel, The Book of Boy, was a Newbery Honor book and has sold in ten foreign territories. She is also the author of the Dairy Queen series, comprised of three young adult novels and one for middle grade readers, and two historical fantasy novels: Princess Ben and Wisdom's Kiss. She lives in Philadelphia, where she is currently working on her next book for young readers.
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Published 2021-05-25 by HarperCollins / Greenwillow

Comments

I can't wait to recommend this book to middle schoolers and as a great family read-aloud. It truly has something for everyone... This is my favorite book by Catherine Murdock yet and that is saying a lot.

A fanciful middle-grade alternate history romp depicting the adventures of a 16th-century "gentleman" and his encounters with 20th-century American time-travelers.

Detailed writing brings the past to life in this delightful time-slip story populated by an array of outsized figures from history. This is an appealing read that will likely leave many readers eager to learn more about the art and artists of the Renaissance. Thoroughly charming.

Murdock keeps her story fresh with tight, fast-paced writing that incorporates history by bringing it engagingly to life and tying it meaningfully to the present.

An original combination of portal fantasy, historical fiction, and time-ravel with a hint of alt-history... The narrative is rich in characters... The most compelling character, however, is Renaissance Rome itself - complicated, immediate, and fully realized in sounds, smells, intrigue, squalor, brio, and opuulence. Murdock is at home in that world as she was in the Middle Ages of her Newbery Honor-winning Book of Boy.

Chinese (simpl.): Citic ; Hungarian. Mano Konyvek ; Russian: Kariera

Murdock (The Book of Boy) crafts an arresting blend of speculative time travel and art mystery with a sumptuously imagined Renaissance Italy setting filled with evocative sensory details. The unlikely pairing of cosseted Federico and bold Bee... provides comedic moments, and historical figures, such as the volatile Michelangelo and the suave Raphael, are vividly rendered.

Cover reveal and interview, in which Catherine Gilbert Murdock discusses her inspiration, her research, and what she's working on now. Read more...

With its engaging friendships, enigmatic time travel and rollicking art mystery, "Da Vinci's Cat" reminds me of Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time," Rebecca Stead's "When You Reach Me" and E. L. Konigsburg's "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler"- three of my favorite books - rolled into one. The cat is portrayed in charismatic spot illustrations by a master of our own time, Paul Zelinsky, who also created the luminous jacket art and frontispiece. Murdock's meticulously researched scenes of Renaissance Rome are so evocative you can almost taste the figs, hear the bells, smell the manure. Reading "Da Vinci's Cat" made me want to finally go see Michelangelo's ceiling for myself, preferably in Leonardo's closet, so I can skip the lines.