LitPick Review
Cat-astrophic by Sue C. Dugan is a paranormal story that brings us into the world of reincarnation. Nick is a popular high school boy who is smart, a football star, and has a girlfriend named Emily. Things were going fine for him until a new girl enrolled in the school. Their first contact wasn't good, but on their second meeting, which was in history class, they were assigned to be project partners by their teacher. Nick finds the new girl, Cat, weird with her gothic look and her talk about him abandoning her in their past life. Nick’s father, being a Methodist minister, has taught him that reincarnation is not real, so he tries not to believe all she says. Eventually, he finds himself dreaming about a young boy named Jean-Claude, who is very much like him. Jean-Claude also went on to discover that his parents had exorcised him when he was little because he always talked of being in the military during World War II. These dreams no doubt put him in an uncomfortable position as they go against his family's beliefs and leave him thinking he has been reincarnated. How do you think his father would react to this if Nick ends up trying to explain this to him? Does Nick actually believe he is reincarnated? You will have to read this book to find out.
Opinion:
This book is a paranormal story for mature and young adults. Set in a small rural town, it describes it as one where everyone is very acquainted with each other. The characters are well-developed as they relate to teenagers and young adults. The book presents relationships ranging from friendship to romance and has themes of relationship jealousy. The book can also be seen as a historical fiction that is set in the past and discusses World War II. It also includes a story of gypsies and the cadets at Cadre Noir. Overall, it discusses reincarnation with a pinch of topic on exorcism. I really liked the book. I love high school tales, but this came mixed with some paranormal stories. I loved the romance between the characters and even felt Emily’s jealousy when she noticed Nick and Chaton seemed to be hanging out too frequently. Emily is a nice character, which is undeniably one reason why Nick loves her. Lastly, sometimes things weren't working out for Nick, like his struggle to balance his school grades and football practice. I see it as not an easy one since he had many thoughts going on in his head, but he tried his best to balance all these including his relationship with Emily, his parents, and friends.
