In this stand-alone novel with themes of friendship and family, from the author of the acclaimed Coo, twelve-year-old Elsby discovers a family of talking cats living in the house next door and must help them harness the magic that made them that way. For fans of Kathi Appelt and Katherine Applegate.

With her mother busy curating an art show, Elsby isn’t thrilled to be spending a few weeks with her great-aunt Verity. Luckily, she has her notebook and a lush garden to sketch to help pass the time. But a visitor takes Elsby by surprise: a cat standing on its two hind legs and dressed like a sailor dashes across the garden and into the neighboring woods.

Elsby can’t believe her eyes, and her mother and aunt don’t seem to believe her, either. But that night, the cat approaches Elsby with three of his companions. While the cats can currently talk, think, and behave like humans, the magical spell that made them that way will revert if it’s not renewed soon. Elsby might be the only one who can save them—but every enchantment comes at a price.