The Nine Lives of Montezuma follows the life of a tiny ginger cat and how the farmyard where he lives in becomes his territory, and how his owner grows up with him. This is as much about Matthew the farm boy as it is about Montezuma the cat. Michael Morpurgo is really good at telling you one story on the surface and another one in the background.
The small black and white illustrations dotted throughout the chapters work really well to help you picture what is going on in the book. The book is quite short, but effective. A good ten year old reader would finish this book in one or possibly two nights. I am a nocturnal reader!
I particularly like the way the book is split up into lives, rather than chapters. Because the book is split into the nine lives it feels like you are really following the stages of the life of a cat. There is a really horrible part to the beginning that I found upsetting, a part with a farmer 'getting rid of' some kittens. But I did really like how Montezuma was rescued.
There are some other really strange, non-feline, characters in the book, like Daisy the Cow, and Sam the farm dog, who help the story come to life. I think this book would be for six plus, unless you don't like cute kittens, and how couldn't you! I would give this book 8 out of 10 - it would have got more if it was longer and more kittens survived.
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
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