Thank you to Netgalley for the e-arc!

This was a lovely and light middle grade novel following a young girl who, after losing her family, finds a new home and purpose in an abandoned mansion full of stray cats. I loved the way Fiona's character was written, and how her fantasies about finding her "Destiny" morphed into concrete activism to defend the mansion and its cats. The cats were fabulously well written with spot-on cat personalities and mentalities. It was perhaps a little unrealistic that so many things worked out perfectly in the end but then again, I think the world could use some hope right now, unrealistic or not. Over all, this was just thoroughly fun to read and I can't wait to put it in the hands of my students.

Thank you to Tanya Lloyd Kyi, the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A full five stars for this book! My 8 year old son and I read this together as his bed time story and we both equally enjoyed it. He loved all the different point of views and each night looked forward to finding out who we would be reading about...very quickly he got such a kick our of Aunt Tanis and her boyfriend Dex...along with their jobs are ...you guessed it! MUNICIPAL HALL lol!

This book was perfectly written for the late elementary early middle grade ages and would make a wonderful addition to any school library. The many stories about finding family outside of your birth family can be very relatable to many children and their circumstances while also enjoying the fast paced and adorable story of Fiona and all the cats living among "The City".

Aunt Tanis never listens, ballet is stupid, and Fiona just wants read since all the girls in her class are mean. When Fiona’s parents were in a tragic accident, she began a new life with her aunt, who means well, but sometimes just doesn’t have a clue. So when she signs Fiona up for ballet camp, all bets are off. Fiona decides to skip camp and spend her days visiting a cat city she’s found in an old abandoned mansion. Soon, problems arise when a demolition is planned for the neighborhood abandoned homes. Can Fiona and the cats she’s grown to love save their city together before it’s too late? What a great little extended read for third or fourth graders! This tale has tropes of found family, building community, tiny heroine, making animal and human friends in surprising places. I lived all the well-developed characters and would recommend this book to elementary aged readers.

This was a really well done novel and had that children’s genre element that I was looking for. The characters were everything that I was hoping for and was invested in what was going on. I loved the use of cats and thought it was a cute story going on. Tanya Lloyd Kyi wrote this well and glad I got to read this.