The Thirteenth Cat

by Mary Downing Hahn

From master of middle grade horror Mary Downing Hahn, a new thriller about bravery, unexpected friendship, and sinister cats that will captivate readers with its chilling mix of mystery and magic. Zoey loves spending the summer with her Aunt Alice, and her aunt's new house is the perfect place to cozy up with a good book. But she's unnerved by the overgrown forest next door, which is creepy even in the daytime and full of eerie sounds at night. Worse, there are rumors in town of a dark force in those woods. And Zoey can't deny that the wild black cats who live there seem to be watching her. When she encounters a mean old woman who claims to be their owner, Zoey realizes there's more to the cats than meets the eye. But little does she know that the closer she comes to discovering their secret, the more danger she's in . . .

Genres: Middle Grade, Horror, Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy, Witches, Thriller

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

I grew up in a small shingled house down at the end of Guilford Road in College Park, Maryland. Our block was loaded with kids my age. We spent hours outdoors playing "Kick the Can" and "Mother, May I" as well as cowboy and outlaw games that usually ended in quarrels about who shot whom. In the summer, we went on day long expeditions into forbidden territory -- the woods on the other side of the train tracks, the creek that wound its way through College Park, and the experimental farm run by the University of Maryland.

In elementary school, I was known as the class artist. I loved to read and draw but I hated writing reports. Requirements such as outlines, perfect penmanship, and following directions killed my interest in putting words on paper. All those facts -- who cared what the principal products of Chile were? To me, writing reports was almost as boring as math.

Despite my dislike of writing, I loved to make up stories. Instead of telling them in words, I told them in pictures. My stories were usually about orphans who ran away and had the sort of exciting adventures I would have enjoyed if my mother hadn't always interfered.

When I was in junior high school, I developed an interest in more complex stories. I wanted to show how people felt, what they thought, what they said. For this, I needed words. Although I wasn't sure I was smart enough, I decided to write and illustrate children's books when I grew up. Consequently, at the age of thirteen, I began my first book. Small Town Life was about a girl named Susan, as tall and skinny and freckle faced as I was. Unlike her shy, self conscious creator, however, Susan was a leader who lived the life I wanted to live -- my ideal self, in other words. Although I never finished Small Town Life, it marked the start of a lifelong interest in writing.

In high school, I kept a diary. In college, I wrote poetry and short stories and dreamed of being published in The New Yorker. Unfortunately, I didn't have the courage or the confidence to send anything there.

By the time my first novel was published, I was 41 years old. That's how long it took me to get serious about writing. The Sara Summer took me a year to write, another year to find a publisher, and yet another year of revisions before Clarion accepted it.

Since Sara appeared in 1979, I've written an average of one book a year. If I have a plot firmly in mind when I begin, the writing goes fairly quickly. More typically, I start with a character or a situation and only a vague idea of what's going to happen. Therefore, I spend a lot of time revising and thinking things out. If I'd paid more attention to the craft of outlining back in elementary school, I might be a faster writer, but, on the other hand, if I knew everything that was going to happen in a story, I might be too bored to write it down. Writing is a journey of discovery. That's what makes it so exciting.

Reviews

[Natasha Niezgoda]

This was a fun horror-esque middle grade. Moral: befriend feral cats - they are the good guys! 🐈🐈‍⬛

[Amber J (Thereadingwitch)]

It was pretty good. 3.5 stars. For a horror book aimed at a middle-grade audience. I actually enjoyed it a decent amount. I think especially those who love cats or wonder what it would be like to be a cat, would really get a kick out of this one. I think the ending could have been done better. But other than that it was a pretty fun read.


How I choose my rating:
1* Didn't like it at all. These are rare as I usually just don't finish any book I dislike this much.
2** Didn't like it. Again usually DNF if I dislike it this much, but occasionally I feel it still has potential and I try to stick with it to the end.
3*** I liked it. It wasn't great but it was enjoyable enough. It is unlikely I'll ever reread it but I might finish the series if it is a part of one.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this at some point, and I will almost always finish the series if part of one.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will probably reread this and possibly more than once. I will definitely finish the series if it's part of one.

[The Captain]

Ahoy there mateys! A random pick.  This author wrote one of me favorite ghost stories when I was little and I have never read anything else by her.  And of course cats.  This was a very odd book with witches and magic. This was just okay.  The plot was a bit scattered, the pace a bit slow, and the ending was rather lame.  I would have liked the main characters to have more agency.  Plus the friendship in this was mean.  I will stick to remembering the fondness for her other book. Arrrr!

[Rachel]

I was not a fan of this book at all. My expectations were very high for suspense, and even fright, which is what I’ve come to expect from Mary Downing Hahn. However, this book fell very short. It was not scary, or even mildly creepy, and it kind of plodded along. I did not enjoy the storyline or the writing, nor did I think the ending was satisfactory enough to have resolved all the problems and questions presented in the book. The fates of many characters were left unresolved. I thought the premise of who/what The Thirteenth Cat was, was weak, and I do not think my students, who are familiar with Hahn’s work, would be satisfied with this effort. Sadly, I do not think I will be purchasing it for my library.

[Kaethe]

There were some unexpected choices and I enjoyed it until the end. Then it didn't work so well for me.

Library copy

[Michelle]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC. The story is a little slow in the beginning, but becomes a page-turner with chapter 8. I never expected the big twist, which was delightful. And many characters have moral shades of gray, leaving the reader wondering who can be trusted. The cat on the cover captures one character perfectly. I highly recommend this for my 5th graders who like stories with creepy vibes. This would probably seem even better if read in the fall.

[Holly Browning]

Mary Downing Hahn never disappoints me. And once again she's weaved a quite a witch's tale. I am 39 years old and have been reading Hahn since I picked up Wait till Helen Comes in 4th grade. I can't put my finger on what makes Hahn's stories superior to others in the genre, but she always sets a spooky tone that's hard to match. And who doesn't love cats? Highly recommend. #netgalley #thethirteenthcat #marydowninghahn

[Shayla]

I like Mary Downing Hahn's middle grade books. Nothing really bad or evil, but a good story with enough action and suspense to make it entertaining and worth reading.

[Richard K.]

Welcome to the woods, and beware of all of Miss DuPrees cats! They will change your life forever! Meow!

It is so funny how me, being a man in his 60's can love this author and her works like I do! Yes, this was not her best, however with the story taking a tad bit silly turn, Hahn really makes it work in the end. If you listen to this, and you think: 'this is kinda silly and stupid....maybe I should stop going any further.....' just dont. It is quite a good story. This was the first of this kind of spooky thriller but I will still recommend it to anyone who just likes a good story that any one can enjoy. There is no graphic gore, and or language. Just a great author (who is in her 80's may I point out!) who writes really fun horror/teen/thrillers.

4 Meows!

[Alicia Mesa]

I wanted to like this book but dang the lead character was annoying. And she was a cat thief! I found it hard to be sympathetic with the “hero” of the story.

[Radley]

Mary Downing Hahn is one of my favorite authors so I love finding new books of hers to read. I had high hopes for this book because I love cats but the ending felt rushed. All this build up for a great ending that ended in a super short chapter. I will say it was a very easy and fun read. Definitely worth reading at least once.

[lacyreadsromance]

I read this one to my 7 year old who is a scary story fan. She said “5 stars”.

This book was fun. Not too scary to read before bedtime. It wrapped up rather abruptly for me! Are the memories gone forever? What happened to Thirteen? Was missing girls case officially closed?

[L.M.]

Fun story, not too scary.

[Stacy Renee (LazyDayLit)]

MG
Witchy thriller

[Rebecca Lowe]

Middle school relevant. Fans of Erin Hunter’s Warrior Cats will like this.

[Anika]

This book was so good. I recommend this book if you’re into thrillers, fantasy, and fiction.😊

[Summer Ward]

Wow, Zoey. It was so incredibly tremendously, abundantly, IMMACULATELY clever of you to wander into the woods at 3.AM to go kidnap a cat that was owned by the most creepy old woman in the woods. If this was a movie, there would be a camera following her 24/7, and when she so,so, SOOO unexpectedly runs into danger, she would turn around and goggle at it like she had just found the cure to world hunger, as if she hadn’t willingly cannonballed so hard into trouble recklessly, and so hard it could beat CaseOh jumping into a pool-and that would cause a worldwide earthquake. Plus, she’s legit a thief. AREN’T YOU STEALING A CAT, BRO? IT’S A GINORMOUS DEAL?!?????!? And she’s TWELVE YEARS OLD. Shouldn’t she be less dumb by now? And her friend too, Lila. The brilliance of knocking on a peculiar old lady suspected of crime at midnight!! The mom knocking over the words that the cat was trying to spell with the scrabble letters, which was ZOEY, her missing daughter’s name!! Just a coincidence, huh? Trying to make literally every character in here have common sense would be about as easy as trying to plunge a toilet after my sister leaves a humongous abomination in there; you can’t even linger around there for half a second, because that foul stench would kill you. Secondly, even if you wore an ultra tight gas mask, the size of it would be impossible to flush: long, hot dog shaped, fat, horse manure. Would make a nice meal for that “class clown” in my class. Pretty lame. Wish the main characters were kinder to each other, because it doesn’t seem like they really enjoy their presence, and they would become a traitor in a heartbeat if they were offered a cheeseburger to replace them. The lead character was so annoying, dang.

[Shannon Leonard]

I loveddd mdh in fifth grade so much and I still do! This book is so cute spooky cozy vibes and it takes place in vermont and I love cats so I had to read it. Even though its middle grade level, I recommend as an easy read.

[Alisha]

I really thought the premise to this book sounded really interesting. However, it just wasn’t exciting. The story just felt like it dragged on and on and wasn’t at all creepy. It took so long to get to ending that really didn’t matter anyway. The characters were all one-dimensional and weren’t relatable. The writing over all was flat and felt very juvenile even for a middle grade book. For being written by the “queen of middle grade horror”, I was pretty disappointed. Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy of the arc in return for an honest review.

[Meghan]

I really wish this book did not have this ending. It destroys me thinking that this former girl /now cat’s family will never know what happened to their daughter. I don’t think it is a good life lesson to be that stubborn and full of pride that you cannot give years, possibly decades, of relief and closure to a grieving family.

I also just don’t think the totally writing and plot wasn’t as amazing as Hahn normally is.

[Cara]

I know that I wasn't the target audience for this book, but I hated it. I didn't like how stilted the dialogue was, I didn't enjoy the characters, and it felt REALLY long. I am struggling to find a redeeming quality. I will not be purchasing this one for the library.

[Ms. Yingling]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Zoey lives in New York with her very busy mother, so she is glad to visit her Aunt Alice during the summers. Her aunt is a public librarian, and lives in a small town with nearby woods, so there are a lot more interesting things to do. This year, however, Zoey has an unpleasant run in with neighbor Miss Dupree. Miss Dupree has many cats, who wander around and terrorize the neighborhood, and Aunt Alice tells Zoey to steer clear of the woman, since she doesn't like trespassers on her property, and is generally difficult to deal with. When Zoey sees a smaller cat who makes her miss Suki, her cat back home, she decides that the cat (known only as Thirteen) would be better off and takes her. She names the cat Nia, convinces her aunt to let her keep her, and hides her from Miss Dupree, although the woman knows that Zoey has the cat, and threatens her unless she returns it. Zoey also meets a neighbor girl, Lila, who is sure that Miss Dupree is a witch and that the cats are her familiars and spy for her. The girls work together to investigate Miss Dupree's activities. Soon, however, Zleta Delgata the glamorous niece of Miss Dupree approaches Zoey and convinces her to come to the house to talk. Zoey reluctantly agrees, as there is something mesmerizing about Zleta and her perfume. Before she completely understands what is going on, she has been turned into a cat! Her aunt panics, her mother comes from New York while the search is going on, and even though Miss Dupree is interviewed, there's nothing that can be found. When Lila tries to look for her new friend, she is also turned into a cat. Miss Dupree is a witch who has turned girls into cats so that she can make them sew her line of haute couture designs all night long, and believe during the day that they really are cats (complete with eating mice and birds) so that they don't escape. Thirteen remembers a little bit about being a human, but not a lot, so Zoey and Lila know that they must work quickly to trick Miss Dupree into turning them back into girls. Will they be able to convince Zleta to help them before they are condemned to a bizarre twilight life?
Strengths: This is certainly a new and hauntingly bizarre premise for a horror book.
Weaknesses: There's an awkward turn to this when Zoey and Lila return from being cats, and don't remember a lot of their experiences. If this had been written in the third person rather than first person, it would have been easier to show that transition without seeming odd. I also found it hard to be sympathetic to Zoey. Don't steal animals from neighbors (there's not hard evidence that Nia is being abused; Zoey just doesn't like Miss Dupree), especially if you think they are witches!
What I really think: Definitely purchasing, since I have a huge Hahn following in my library. What a career she has had! I wish that some of her books, like The Old Willis Place, would be reissued, although perhaps it's just as well they aren't. The Puppet's Playback didn't hold up as well as expected. I liked this one better than Guest and Took and not quite as much as The Girl in the Locked Room or One for Sorrow.

[Janina Dillow]

A good book overall! I liked Hahn's books for a long time, I think getting hooked in elementary school but found one of her books recently. I decided to read it for nostalgia's sake, given that I'm way too old and it was still enjoyable. Took me way too long to read it but that's just teenage procrastination.

I rate it 3 stars for the ending. I liked where it was going and I expected that they wouldn't remember much by the end given how Hahn emphasized the lost memory at so many moments. I expected there to be some small memory of it all because Zleta was also continuously made a cat and human but she didn't forget much of anything. It was also inconsistent. During her cat life, Zoey had trouble remembering her cat's name but remembers everything about Dupree's evil antics yet when she becomes a girl again, she suddenly knows Suki and forgets that she ever interacted with Dupree. (???) It just doesn't line up to me. I expected a better ending plot-wise but also just a better-written conclusion. The conclusion is written as if it's a cliffhanger but there is no second book so it's just disappointing at the end of chapter 23.

I did like most of the plot leading up to that moment however the interaction between Lila and Nia did get tiresome because she was so fast to trust Zleta and then decided to despise Nia for the rest of the book. Just very confusing from an actual human perspective why someone would behave that way. Almost a generation shock that Netflix and "Stranger Things" were written into an actual book. Either way, I will continue to read some of Hahn's work. I enjoyed most of it, very descriptive.

[Erika Powers]

Loved it! Reminds me a bit of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. Coming-of-age story with two 12-year-old girls, an evil witch neighbor, animorphism, and a grand adventure. Great characters—felt true to being twelve, and the reading level/storyline matched that perfectly. Fast-paced, suspenseful, totally hooked me.

I was a little sad at the end. One of the cats, Nia, didn’t want to be turned back into a girl. Zoey and Lila did — but a spell was put on them, so they had no memory of their adventure. Once they were human again, they didn’t know they had been cats, or that Nia was once a girl.

Nia loved Zoey very much bc at the beginning of the story, Zoey rescued her from the mean witch.

At the end of the summer, Zoey had to go back home to Brooklyn. Nia wanted to go with, but zoey told the kitty it was all brick buildings, loud, crowded, they lived in an apartment and she would never be able to go outside. So Nia decided to stay at the aunt’s house, where she could still go outside and play and be free.

I wanted Nia to get to go home with Zoey in the end but she had a siamese named Suki in Brooklyn, and that's just the way it is sometimes. It wasn’t written as a sad ending—more just a gentle closing. Not happy or tragic, just… finished.

Was like a Grimm's fairy tale but longer - those are mostly short short stories. Some was gruesome and cruel, it had some magic, a forest, talking animals, everything you could wish for 🖤

[Sarah]

Zoey is staying with her aunt over the summer, when she notices the neighbors cats watching her from the fence. They are all mean, black cats that like to terrorize the neighborhood. After one of the cats seem to take a liking to Zoey, she decides that she should rescue it from the mean neighbor, Miss Dupree. This does not go over well, and Miss Dupree decides there needs to be consequences to her actions.

The premise sounds fun, but this book really didn't do anything for me. Although this is a middle grade book, I think it would do better with upper elementary kids who are transitioning to bigger chapter books. I am not the intended audience or age range, but I'm not sure most middle graders would enjoy it. The writing, pace, and plot all seemed to be for a younger audience. It was hard to believe that our main characters were 12 year olds with how they talked and acted.

Parts of the book were fun and make you want to know whats happening next, but the ending wasn't a good payoff. I have only read a couple of books from this author. Even though this wasn't my favorite, I still plan on picking up more of her work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Gail DiVico]

This was another fun and not too scary book about a young girl (Zoey) who went to visit her aunt for the summer because her mother was working every day in Brooklyn. She ended up in a beautiful, quiet spot in New England. While there, she met a new friend Lila from across the street who volunteered at the local library. Next door to her aunt's house was a very large wooded area and a very old house which an elderly, and not very nice woman lived in. There were also many, many black cats. The old woman also had her niece there (who was also a little odd). Her aunt told the two girls to please not go anywhere near that house or the lady. Of course, when all the black cats started visiting to see who the newcomer was, they were running all over the place, and the two girls decided to go after them and see what all the commotion was about this lady and her niece. From there, the two girls experienced something really out of this world and were missing for four days. I'm not giving any secrets away, but I do recommend this one for middle schoolers and above.

[Sandy]

This is the only book, so far, of this authors books, that I had to skip a few pages. I had about 80 pages left and it seemed like I was about to read 50 of those pages where the girls run around as cats. It was more than a bit boring. It was an ok book that didn't seem as good as the authors other books. My all-time favorite book by her is Took. That is a great spooky story to read. Definitely better than this book.

I had to come back to this review and mention how upset I was in a few places in this book. I know that cats can be mean and the whole "play cat and mouse" is a real thing. But to have it in a childrens book I'm not sure that would be a good thing. For example, the cats play with mice, beetles, and other small animals. They also kill mice by biting their heads off and then smell the blood. The cats also "cuff" each other. I know real cats do all this but these cats are supposed to be girls in cat forms. Seems a bit violent to me where it doesn't need to be.

[I.C. Monsters]

First off I just want to say that I give star ratings based on how often I put down and pick up the book and in this case it just so happened to take me 13 of the 15 days I allowed myself.

I enjoyed this book. It gave me The Witches by Roald Dahl vibes. So much so that I am not rereading The Witches. I think that the pacing was good. I didn’t feel like anything dragged on and the only reason that I kept putting the book down was because I didn’t feel obsessed with knowing what was going to happen next. I would read a chapter or two and was okay with putting it down and picking it back up later. That being said I did find myself later ready to continue reading and figure out how the story was going to end.

I think that this is a nice comfortable read that you can take your time with and enjoy.

[Gemma]

A good ghost story.

I was thrilled when I found the book I was looking for, for years with a doll in the garden and a ghost cat.
I was even more thrilled when I discovered several more books written by the author Mary downing Hahn.

Zoey goes to stay at her aunt and is fascinated by the hidden house full of strange cats next door and the mysterious Miss Dupree.
When she is determined to rescue a cat she named Mia, Miss Dupree comes after her angrily.
Then Zoey meets Miss Dupree's niece who was sweet and smiling, suddenly she's waking up as one of Miss Dupree's cats and discovers a terrifying truth about the cats and why Mia the cat she rescued is so important.
Prisoners in a cats body they try to figure out how to become little girls again.

[Eleni]

I love cats. That made this story a better read for me, and the beginning was good: a 12 year old girl, Zoey, from NY C is visiting her aunt for the summer and makes friends with Lila, the girl who lives across the street, bonding over the creeps they both get when they think about Zoey’s next door neighbour, whom Lila thinks is a witch. It doesn’t help that she’s an eccentric recluse who has thirteen cats that hunt among the tangled woods that surround her home. Zoey sees that one cat is malnourished and bullied by the others, and that makes her want to save it. But Madame Dupree is not having it!

The story follows predictable lines, and that’s ok, but there really wasn’t much suspense or spookiness to the tale.