Dark's Tale

by Deborah Grabien

After being abandoned in Golden Gate Park by owners who no longer want her, Dark must quickly learn how to take care of herself. Befriended by a racoon, Rattail, and Casablanca, another feral cat, Dark quickly learns her place in the park's hierarchy, and discovers who she can trust--the Warms (nice people who feed the ferals every day)--and who's to be avoided--the Cores (homeless kids who live in the park) and the Dangers (who include clueless humans who don't always consider their impact on the park and its social structure).

But when coyotes start invading the park and the streets immediately surrounding it, the stability of San Francisco and the park are threatened. Guided by the ghost stories and mysterious musings of a homeless woman and the determination of Jesse, a human sometimes-park resident, Dark must make difficult decisions about friendship, loyalty, and the meaning of survival.

Genres: Cats, Animals, Pets

300 pages, Hardcover

First published March 23, 2010

About the author

Deborah Grabien is a world traveller, retired medieval historian, and lifelong rocker chick. Her short fiction, reviews, and essays can be seen in many diverse venues.

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

DO NOT READ THIS BOOK! EVER! FOR ANY REASON! (Earl and I stopped reading by chapter three and I'm sorry I even read that far.) It is NOT a "junior" book, even though that is its placement in the library. It it violent and evil and will give you nightmares.

[Cynthia Parkhill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whenever I visit Golden Gate Park and see the signs warning of coyotes, my thoughts turn inevitably to this book which I re-read every few years. With my own sweet little void at home, I'm sympathetic to the character of Dark. And I think the book has a lot of insightful things to say about the ways that humans co-exist with wildlife - especially in urban spaces.

[Alexis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Libro che ricevetti anni fa tramite scambio, anche se non l'ho mai caricato qui su GR.
Viene propangandato come libro per gli amanti degli animali, ma devo dissentire, non credo proprio che lo sia.
Oppure sono io troppo sensibile, non saprei.
Apprezzabile il fatto che abbia cercato di spiegare che l'immettere specie pericolose in zone dove prima non c'erano è sbagliato, ma è sbagliato il metodo in cui è scritto, le scene o insulse o violente a seconda dei casi, e lo stile della narrazione.
Purtroppo non salvo niente, ma l'ho donato ad una free library.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dark's Tale by Deborah Grabien is a middle grade story of a black cat trying to learn how to live on her own in Golden Gate Park. She had originally been a beloved pet but the new baby is allergic to cats and so the cat is dumped in the park.

Dark has to learn who the friends and the foes are including trustworthy and non-trustworthy humans. All the while there is a coyote problem, something unheard of in decades in San Francisco. Because it's so hard to believe that coyotes could be in such a crowded city there's no action to find them. Dark and all the other animals are their potential prey.

I remember the coyotes finally making the news a few years back. It happened in our second or third year of living in the Bay Area. I know the areas described in the book. I love cats. I've worked with strays. I should have loved the book.

But I didn't. The pacing was off. Everything is described from Dark's point of view and commonplace things are given other names — descriptive names made up of other commonplace words. It's cute at first but ultimately all these descriptive names get in the way of the story.

For a similar but more coherent story try The Cats of Roxville Station by Jean Craighead George.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Kira M for TeensReadToo.com

After her family's child turns out to be allergic to Dark, they dump her off in the park. Dark quickly befriends Rattail, a raccoon, and Casablanca, another stray, who teach her about the natural order in the park.

This includes humans, whom the animals label as Cores (homeless park residents), Warms (friendly), Dangers (not to be trusted), and Blanks (oblivious to the animals and one another). Uneasy around humans after being abandoned, she has a hard time trusting them.

When she encounters three Warms - Jack, Angie, and Jessie - she can't help but start liking them. When coyotes invade the park and threaten her new home and friends, she realizes that she and the other cats are going to have to adapt and fight the greatest fight of their life to not only save themselves, but the Warms, as well.

Can they overcome their distrust of humans and each other long enough to save their park home?

DARK'S TALE is a fun adventure for cat lovers. The plot is well-developed, and the characters are lovable. Readers who like fantasy, cats, adventure, and survival stories will enjoy reading this book.

[Lisa James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cute young adult book of a black cat named Dark (how quaint, certainly NOT very creative, the author lost a star from me for that lack of imagination), who was dumped by her family in a park in San Fran, & her friends Casablanca, a cream tabby who was also abandoned when her family left her, Rattail the Raccoon, who has a bald backside & skimpy tail from a conflict, the great owl Memorie, & the humans who befriend them, is fraught with adventure, & is a rather adorable story of friendship under extreme conditions, as well as a statement of the cruelty to animals that the heartlessness of pet abandonment is. There IS a happy ending, so it was worth the read...

[Merriwyllow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives us a close look at the hardships of a cat abandoned by her owners, left to survive catch-as-catch-can in Golden Gate Park. Aside from the ordinary dangers of starvation, traffic and the evil that humans can do, there are new and terrifying dangers from urban coyotes moving into the area and eliminating the competition. Dry as that sounds, Deborah Grabien tells this story with vivid characters who grab the heart and mind. I recommend it for anyone who loves cats - in the target age group or older.

[Babymouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a cat who got abandoned. Dark meets alot of friends in this book including: acat, humans, and racoons! Darks Tale is very sad and happy but there is a happy and sad ending read the bo and find out!!!!!

[Barbara J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprise- I really enjoyed a children's book! My husband and I rescue and care for feral/abandoned cats, and this book, set in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, really resonated. Grabien captures how I too imagine it may feel to be an abandoned cat, but with an upbeat tone.

[W W · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't get through this book. I picked it up thinking it might be something I could recommend to my students who love animal fantasy, but it was a lost cause. The story was simply too formulaic and mundane for me.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting perspective of park life. I am still confused about who Sal is? I loved the descriptions of how Dark feels when she is with Jesse, made me feel like I was Dark. More people should think before they dump their pets.

[Carly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting book... I liked it, but some parts were just a little weird or confusing.

[Theo]

At the beginning it was really good, but halfway through it slacked off and got kind of boring.

[Mary McKinley · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent!