Dewey's Nine Lives

Book excerpt: Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the Worldwas a blockbuster bestseller and a publishing phenomenon. It spent more than seven months on the New York Timesbestseller list, nearly the entire time in the top five. It has sold nearly a million copies, spawned three children's books, and will be the basis for a movie starring Meryl Streep that is in the works. No doubt about it, this is one beloved cat. But he's more than just a bestselling franchise: Dewey has created a community. Dewey touched readers everywhere, who realized that no matter how difficult their lives might seem, or how ordinary their talents, they can - and should - make a positive difference to those around them. Dewey's Nine Livescontinues the formula that made Dewey so successful: inspiring, funny, and heart-warming stories about cats told from the perspective of 'Dewey's Mum,' librarian Vicki Myron. The amazing felines in this book include Dewey, of course, whose further never-before-told adventures and amazing legacy are chronicled, but several others who Vicki found out about when their owners reached out to her. Vicki learned, through extensive interviews and story sharing, what made these cats special, and how they fit into Dewey's community of perseverance and love. From a divorced mother in Alaska who saved a drowning kitten on Christmas Eve to a post-traumatic stress-disorder - suffering veteran whose heart was opened by his long relationship with a rescued cat, these Dewey-style stories will inspire readers to laugh, cry, care, and, most importantly, believe in the magic of animals to touch individual lives.