Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale (U)

Once in nine lives,something extraordinary happens...The last thing Gwen Cooper wanted was another cat. She already had two, not to mention a phenomenally underpaying job and a recently broken heart. Then Gwen's veterinarian called with a story about a three-week-old eyeless kitten who'd been abandoned. It was love at first sight.Everyone warned that Homer would always be an "underachiever," never as playful or independent as other cats. But the kitten nobody believed in quickly grew into a three-pound dynamo, a tiny daredevil with a giant heart who eagerly made friends with every human who crossed his path. Homer scaled seven-foot bookcases with ease and leapt five feet into the air to catch flies in mid-buzz. He survived being trapped alone for days after 9/11 in an apartment near the World Trade Center, and even saved Gwen's life when he chased off an intruder who broke into their home in the middle of the night.... Publishers Weekly Cooper had every intention of saying no to the veterinarian who asked her if she was interested in adopting a four-week-old stray kitten with a particular handicap. She was fresh off a bad breakup, working a low-paying job and living rent-free in a friend's bedroom plus she was worried about the social implications of adding one cat to the two she had already adopted The neighborhood kids will... say things like 'That's where Old Widow Cooper, the cat lady, lives.' But as soon as she picked up the tiny kitten and he started to purr, she caved. She settled on a name and brought Homer home. His intrepid explorations of his new environs quickly challenged Cooper's expectations of a blind cat. And through 12 years, six moves, several boyfriends and a showdown with a burglar, this tender and affecting book reveals Homer's lessons about love and acceptance and how he transformed Cooper into the woman she had always wanted to be. Photos. (Aug. 25)