Book Review: Sammie Ray! by Frank Romaunt

Interviewed by Alvin Kott for The Vegas Evening Star, a talkative feline named Sammie Ray discusses his five-year odyssey of living on the streets of Northeast Kansas City, Missouri. Despite a life filled with tragedy and misfortune, Sammie Ray endures and is ultimately rescued.

When the author of this book contacted me to ask for a review I was happy to accept, expecting a sweet story told from a cat's point of view about his rescue from a harsh life on the streets. And that is the gist of the story, but it's told in such an incredibly creative way that I found myself completely entranced by Sammie Ray.

Written in interview format, Alvin Kott is the author's alter ego, a reporter for The Vegas Evening Star who is presented with the opportunity to chat with an extraordinary talking cat and his human guardian Stewart. Sammie Ray's life story, starting as a kitten with his mama and siblings (simply named One, Two, Three, Four and Five) to surviving hardships on his own, finally leading to his adoption into a wonderful family, is heart wrenching. His courage and acts of love, especially with regards to his feline family, are lessons many humans could learn from.

After reading the book I contacted the author to find out "the story behind the story" and discovered that Sammie Ray is his own cat, FIV positive and about 5 years old at the time of his rescue. The vet believed he had lived on the street all his life, so this story was born from his owner's imagining what life had been like for him all those years trying to survive on his own. As he told me, "The story is written to address the plight of stray animals in general, and I wanted to make a subtle appeal to people so they can truly understand some of the horrors that stray cats and animals experience, and that just a little effort can make an enormous difference in the lives of these animals!"

Sammie Ray's voice is at times tough and street smart, yet at other times he needs to take breaks to compose himself and asks his human to hold him to help him get through the especially sad parts of his story. His adorable way of answering, "You're kind" to any compliment is endearing, and the reason why he asks for his picture to accompany the interview left a lump in my throat. I guarantee Sammie Ray is a cat you won't soon forget, and his "tail" is one every cat lover should read.

Disclaimer: As members of the Amazon Associates affiliate program, if you click on our links and buy something Mudpie gets a little money for her piggy bank! I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for my fair and honest opinion.