Two unlikely friends—Federico, in sixteenth-century Rome, and
Bee, in present-day New Jersey—are linked through an amiable cat, Leonardo Da
Vinci’s mysterious wardrobe, and an eerily perfect sketch of Bee. Newbery Honor
author Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s Da Vinci’s Cat is a thrilling,
time-slip fantasy about rewriting history to save the present. This inventive novel
will engross anyone who loved When You Reach Me and A Wrinkle in Time.

Federico doesn’t mind being a political hostage in
the Pope’s palace, especially now that he has a cat as a friend. But he must
admit that a kitten walking into a wardrobe and returning full-grown a moment
later is quite odd. Even stranger is Herbert, apparently an art collector from
the future, who emerges from the wardrobe the next night. Herbert barters with
Federico to get a sketch signed by the famous painter Raphael, but his plans
take a dangerous turn when he hurries back to his era, desperate to save a
dying girl.

Bee never wanted to move to New Jersey. When a
neighbor shows Bee a sketch that perfectly resembles her, Bee, freaked out,
solidifies her resolve to keep to herself. But then she meets a friendly cat
and discovers a mysterious cabinet in her neighbor’s attic—a cabinet that leads
her to Renaissance Rome. Bee, who has learned about Raphael and Michelangelo in
school, never expected she’d get to meet them and see them paint their
masterpieces.


This compelling time-slip adventure by Newbery
Honor author Catherine Gilbert Murdock is full of action, mystery, history,
art, and friendship—and features one unforgettable cat.


Includes an author’s note about the art, artists, and
history that inspired the novel .