his reads like a YA SciFi (and if I got it wrong, well, I’ll apologize and note that the writing is smooth and simple). It’s just a tidy little space opera from 1986, a story of a girl (Barbary) who was orphaned when her mother died ages ago in a space station high over Earth. However, it seems like some of her mother’s friends would like to adapt her and send for her. But getting to the space station is not easy, especially when you are smuggling a cat onboard.
I kinda suspected that this was what was in her “secret pocket”, given the cover art on the book (with the cat on the dashboard of a ship) (and no, it didn’t quite happen this way). But the novel was fun and I loved Mickey the cat, especially when he escapes and finds its way into the control room. The higher-ups are upset, of course, until they realize that (a) Mick caught a rat and (b) shit, they have rats! So Mick is permitted to stay. Besides, there are more important matters – an alien space craft has come drifting into our system.
How that plays out (with Barbary and Mick anywhere but the sidelines) was fun. It wasn’t The Three Body Problem, no, but it was enjoyable scifi. If you happen to see it in a bookstore, grab a copy up. Of course, if you see one of my books in a used bookstore, I’d rather not know.
Anyway, good read.