Books with title It's Like This, Cat

My father is always talking about how a dog can be very educational for a boy. This is one reason I got a cat.Dave Mitchell and his father yell at each other a lot, and whenever the fighting starts, Dave's mother gets an asthma attack. That's when Dave storms out of the house. Then Dave meets Tom, a strange boy who helps him rescue Cat. It isn't long before Cat introduces Dave to Mary, a wonderful girl from Coney Island. Slowly Dave comes to see the complexities in people's lives and to understand himself and his family a little better. Winner, 1964 Newbery MedalNotable Children's Books of 1940–1970 (ALA)

My father is always talking about how a dog can be very educational for a boy. This is one reason I got a cat. My father talks a lot anyway. Maybe being a lawyer he gets in the habit. Also, he’s a small guy with very little gray curly hair, so maybe he thinks he’s got to roar a lot to make up for not being a big hairy tough guy. Mom is thin and quiet, and when anything upsets her, she gets asthma. In the apartment—we live right in the middle of New York City—we don’t have any heavy drapes or rugs, and Mom never fries any food because the doctors figure dust and smoke make her asthma worse. I don’t think it’s dust; I think it’s Pop’s roaring. The big hassle that led to me getting Cat came when I earned some extra money baby-sitting for a little boy around the corner on Gramercy Park. I spent the money on a Belafonte record. This record has one piece about a father telling his son about the birds and the bees. I think it’s funny. Pop blows his stack.

It's Like This, Cat is a novel written by Emily Cheney Neville that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1964. The main character of the story is Dave Mitchell, a 14-year-old who is growing up in mid-20th century New York City. Dave lives with his father and his asthmatic mother and her attacks worsen when Dave and his father have their frequent arguments. Dave's refuge after a clash with his father is with Kate, an elderly neighbor whose apartment is filled with the stray cats she loves. Dave adopts one of the cats, names it "Cat" and takes him home. "Cat" brings both joy and adventure into Dave's life. Cat's presence brings Dave into contact with several new people, including a troubled college-aged boy named Tom and his first girlfriend, Mary. While documenting Dave's growing maturity, the book also provides glimpses of a few of New York's neighborhoods and attractions, from the Fulton Fish Market to the Bronx Zoo and Coney Island.