Book Review: Stray Cats

In Stray Cats (Ateneo De Manila University Press, 2023) Irene Sarmiento’s writing is brave and unyielding. By bringing the issue of the seen and the unseen into a YA novel set in the Philippines, populated by Filipino characters who must navigate the thin, unsettling line between fantasy and reality, she has woven threads of stories into a brilliant twine.

Stray Cats opens many possibilities for discussion. Where can friendship, care, and curiosity lead us when they become prompts to understand a world bigger than our own? What do we do with an awakening from a sheltered life? How do we negotiate a reality that is radically different from our own? What happens when we discover that the real monsters are not the ones we have heard about in our folk stories, but the ones created by human beings? And why is growing up so painful?

For me, this is what makes the novel’s fantasy so powerful. Sarmiento does not use fantasy to escape reality. She uses fantasy to make reality harder to ignore.

The tikbalang, kapre, and other creatures of Philippine folklore invite us into a world that feels strange and magical, but as Elisa moves deeper into that world, the difference between the fantastic and the real begins to blur. The creatures become a way of seeing what might otherwise remain unseen: the inequalities, vulnerabilities, violence, and suffering that exist alongside the ordinary lives we inhabit.

Stray Cats becomes a story not only about finding someone who is missing, but about learning to see. It is there where the strands of the twine come together: friendship leads to care; care leads to curiosity; curiosity leads to encounter; encounter leads to awakening; and awakening demands a response.

Growing up, then, is painful because it means discovering that the world is not the world we thought it was. Realizing that once we have seen it, we cannot simply become unseen again. 

P.S I missed my cats while reading the novel. I rest in the knowledge that Ohren and Golden are being cared for by someone who knows better than I can.

Reading Right Now: Zero O'Clock by C.J. Farley

 

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3 X 3: Recommended Reads of 2018 by Filipino Librarians

At the first week  of January, CNN Philippines featured the top books of 2018. I do not question the list, nor the readers who recommended them. But, I noticed that there were no librarians in the roster. Of course, I find the list really helpful. In fact, I checked which books are already in our library shelves.

Then again. Then again. There were no librarians who put out, on social media, his or her top reads of 2018.

So, let me start compiling a list of top 3 reads by Filipino Librarians in the blog and this will be followed by guest bloggers, all are Filipino Librarians who will share with us their top 3 reads.

Here is mine. All Young Adult novels!

1. Hero at the Fall by Alwyn Hamilton - A fitting end to the Rebel of the Sands series, the book is a storytelling gem. I love the story arc of Amani, the series' irrepressible female lead. There are girls in this series who kicked ass.

2. Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman - This is the first book I read in 2018 that swings from dystopian to utopian ideas latched on religion, philosophy, science and technology. It is a YA novel but eerily prophetic of how humanity may turn out to be as it engages and interacts with technology. One of the lasting questions I have after reading the novel is, can artificial intelligence evolve into a god?

3. Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir - Book 3 in a four part series, it has more action and back story of the villains rather than character development of its heroes. Tahir is consistent though, so book 4 should end with a bang. Like Hero at the Fall, there are plenty of strong women characters in this installment, especially mothers that readers will love and hate.

So, there you go. Three books that has a review of only three sentences. 3 X 3 by Filipino Librarians!