Reviewer: Sharon Brunner
Dylan Bolander’s Until We Meow Again spun a web of supernatural heroism. The story took place in Texas, New Jersey, Marquette, Michigan, an Upper Peninsula of Michigan city (U.P.), rainbow bridges, and various realms outside of the Earth’s plane. In the story there was more than one rainbow bridge. Pets, such as cats and dogs, have been known to travel on the rainbow bridge when they die. In this story the characters also traveled on rainbow bridges to other realms. Bolander was familiar with the U.P because he was born and raised in Iron Mountain, a U.P. community. Some of the main characters were Thomas, a military veteran, Grizzly, Heathee and Squeaker (cats). Ghost cats and ghost dogs made their appearance throughout the book along with Nao, an evil being. Heroic cats stopped him from harming others.
Some of the themes were loyalty and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Grizzly came to the aid of Thomas when he was nine years old. Thomas appeared to have a soft side to his personality and Nao was drawn to that. He wanted to take over Thomas and corrupt him. Grizzly stopped him. Grizzly’s loyalty was extended when Thomas was in a life or death situation while he served in the military overseas. Squeaker and Heathee helped Thomas deal with his PTSD. Thomas was inflicted with many horrible situations while he served in the military and returned to the U.S. with long-lasting emotional consequences, PTSD. When Heathee was pulled away from him to perform heroic duties, Thomas was devastated.
I could relate and liked this book in several ways. I like how Thomas saved the feral cat and converted Squeaker into a domesticated feline. I did a similar thing with a cat named Runaway at the Chippewa County Animal Control Shelter. I discovered I could pet her when I gave her canned cat food. She discovered she liked being petted. I thought she needed a different name so I changed it to Rachel. After a while I could pick her up and she ended up being a very friendly cat. Rachel was adopted by a nice couple. I liked learning a group of cats were called a clowder. I also liked when Thomas saved the five kittens. My husband and I have rescued a multitude of cats and dogs.
Bolander covered some interesting material that I was familiar with such as the Egyptian goddess named Bast, later known as Bastet. Bast was from the second dynasty of Egypt in 2890 B.C. She became associated exclusively with domesticated cats. Cats were held in high esteem in Egypt. Bolander’s story involved Bast summoning 90,000 cats to join her army. Bolander also brought to life Bast’s father Ra, a well-known deity, and other interesting details about that dynasty.
The movie that came to mind when reading this book was the 2011 movie “Puss in Boots: the Last Wish.” Puss in Boots discovered his love of adventure after he burned through eight of his nine lives. He traveled on an epic journey to restore his lives by finding the mystical Last Wish. The book that came to mind was “Real Life Hero Cats: True Stories for Kids and Families” by Anthony Ripley. The book included inspiring tales about real cats who displayed amazing acts of courage, loyalty, and heroism.
I recommend Until We Meow Again for its interesting information about ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses, because of its supernatural acts of heroism, for its endearing moments involving animal protection and for its acts of loyalty. Bolander covered information about the Egyptian god Ra and his offspring, and the battles fought between his offspring. The cats went through great lengths to protect the ones they loved, and their loyalty stretched beyond their natural lives. The mother of the five kittens Thomas saved gave up her life to protect her newborn kittens. My only complaint was the information on the back of the book needed to be in a larger font, so it was easier to read. Bolander brought to life supernatural heroic acts concerning cats, dead or alive, who came to the rescue and fought battles to defend those in need.
Title: Until We Meow Again
Author: Dylan Bolander
