Blackberry and Martha

For an eleven-year-old girl, the world is changing entirely too fast. For a rescue cat, the world is exactly the size of a second-floor apartment. When Martha Joel visits the animal shelter on her eleventh birthday, she is hoping for a dog. Instead, she finds a mysterious, all-black cat watching her intently from the shadows. Martha brings her home, names her Blackberry, and the two forge an unbreakable bond within the safe, bounded walls of their home on 4th Street.

Spanning four years and told entirely from the observant, ground-level perspective of a cat, Blackberry and Martha is a quiet, deeply emotional coming-of-age story. Blackberry doesn't understand the complex human world of middle school, fading childhood friendships, or the anxieties of growing up. But she understands everything that matters: the slump of Martha's shoulders when she is lonely, the terrifying disruption of a winter power outage, and the fierce need to protect her girl from the shadows.

As Martha's world expands and her childhood friendships fracture, Blackberry becomes her silent, steadfast anchor. From inventing mischievous games during spring cleaning to standing guard against fire-escape intruders and keeping watch through a long illness, Blackberry learns what it means to belong to someone.

This beautiful prequel to The Black Cat on 4th Street captures the unspoken magic of animal companionship. It proves that sometimes the greatest adventures happen entirely indoors-and that the strongest love needs no words at all. Discover the origins of the brave black cat who learned to survive, long before she ever had to brave the street.