If you love books, physically as well as for the contents, you might want to pick up Sosuke Natsukawa’s The Cat Who Saved Books. If you’re like me, and appreciate all the little tidbits, I’d suggest you skip to the end of the book before reading it. Louise Heal Kawai, the translator, has a note that you might appreciate. The cover illustrator, Yuko Shimizu also has an amusing, interesting note. I’d check both of them out. And, if you’re wondering about the translation, don’t hesitate to pick up Kawai’s version. She brings beauty to her translation.

Rintaro Natsuki’s grandfather has died. He was the closest family member for the high school student. All he has left is a concerned aunt he doesn’t know, and Natsuki Books, his grandfather’s secondhand bookstore. But, the teenager who never fit it was in the habit of going to Natsuki Books, immersing himself in books, and voraciously reading anything he could find. His grandfather always reminded him that “Books have tremendous power”, but he also warned him it was important to be in the world, not shut away from it. At the moment, Rintaro only wants to shut himself away. He doesn’t want to pack up the bookstore and move away with his aunt.

Two of Rintaro’s classmates do stop to check on him. His class rep, Sayo, brings his homework, and Ryota Akiba, the brainiest boy in the senior class stops in because he loves books. But, it’s a talking cat that changes Rintaro’s life. Tiger the Tabby demands Rintaro’s help in rescuing books. One man reads 100 books a month, but doesn’t treasure them. He locks them away. One man chops books into little pieces to distill the important message. And, the third has a message that Rintaro finds difficult to fight.

The Cat Who Saved Books takes Rintaro on life-changing adventures. He grows, but Tiger worries that he only cares for books, and hasn’t learned the message of empathy. That will come.

I read several reviews of this book that highlighted the magic and a little romance between two teenagers. I think the reviewers missed the entire message of the book. As book banning escalates in this country, it’s even more important to value the contents and messages of books. At the same time, Natsukawa writes about Rintaro’s grandfather, a man who tried to teach the important messages of life. Don’t bully those weaker than you are. Don’t tell lies. Help out those in need. He said nowadays, the obvious is no longer obvious.

The Cat Who Saved Books has a great deal to say about our world. It’s not a teenage romance. It’s so much more.

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa. Translated by Louise Heal Kawai. HarperVia, 2021. ISBN 9780063095724 (hardcover), 200p.


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