The Underneath

The UnderneathThere is nothing lonelier than a cat who has been loved, at least for a while, and then abandoned on the side of the road. A calico cat, about to have kittens, hears the lonely howl of a chained up hound deep in the backwaters of the bayou. She dares to find him in the forest, and the hound dares to befriend this cat, this feline, this creature he is supposed to hate. They are an unlikely pair, about to become an unlikely family. Ranger urges the cat

There is nothing lonelier than a cat who has been loved, at least for a while, and then abandoned on the side of the road.

A calico cat, about to have kittens, hears the lonely howl of a chained-up hound deep in the backwaters of the bayou. She dares to find him in the forest, and the hound dares to befriend this cat, this feline, this creature he is supposed to hate. They are an unlikely pair, about to become an unlikely family. Ranger urges the cat to hide underneath the porch, to raise her kittens there because Gar-Face, the man living inside the house, will surely use them as alligator bait should he find them. But they are safe in the Underneath...as long as they stay in the Underneath.

Kittens, however, are notoriously curious creatures. And one kitten's one moment of curiosity sets off a chain of events that is astonishing, remarkable, and enormous in its meaning. For everyone who loves Sounder, Shiloh, and The Yearling, for everyone who loves the haunting beauty of writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Flannery O'Connor, and Carson McCullers, Kathi Appelt spins a harrowing yet keenly sweet tale about the power of love -- and its opposite, hate -- the fragility of happiness and the importance of making good on your promises.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Published: 05/06/2008
ISBN: 9781416950585
Pages: 320
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 8.10h x 6.00w x 1.30d
Award: Buckeye Children's Book Award - Nominee
Award: Virginia Readers Choice Award - Nominee
Award: Massachusetts Children's Book Award - Nominee
Award: William Allen White Childens Book Award - Nominee
Award: Land of Enchantment Book Award - Nominee
Award: West Virginia Children's Book Award - Nominee
Award: Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award - Nominee
Award: Newbery Medal - Honor Book
Award: National Book Awards - Finalist
Award: Literary Award - Winner

Review Citations: Kirkus Review - Children 04/01/2008 pg. 351
Horn Book Magazine 05/01/2008 pg. 303
School Library Journal 06/01/2008 pg. 134
Booklist 05/15/2008 pg. 54
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2008 - Superior,Well Above Average
Hornbook Guide to Children 10/01/2008 pg. 335 - Superior,Well Above Average
Booklist Ed Choice Youth 01/01/2009 pg. 15
ALA Notable Children's Books 03/15/2009 pg. 23

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 122589 / Underneath
Reading Level: 5.2 / Interest Level: Middle Grade / Point Value: 9