Two unlikely friends—Federico, in sixteenth-century Rome, and

Bee, in present-day New Jersey—are linked through an amiable cat, Leonardo Da

Vinci’s mysterious wardrobe, and an eerily perfect sketch of Bee. Newbery Honor

author Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s Da Vinci’s Cat is a thrilling,

time-slip fantasy about rewriting history to save the present. This inventive novel

will engross anyone who loved When You Reach Me and A Wrinkle in Time.

Federico doesn’t mind being a political hostage in

the Pope’s palace, especially now that he has a cat as a friend. But he must

admit that a kitten walking into a wardrobe and returning full-grown a moment

later is quite odd. Even stranger is Herbert, apparently an art collector from

the future, who emerges from the wardrobe the next night. Herbert barters with

Federico to get a sketch signed by the famous painter Raphael, but his plans

take a dangerous turn when he hurries back to his era, desperate to save a

dying girl.

Bee never wanted to move to New Jersey. When a

neighbor shows Bee a sketch that perfectly resembles her, Bee, freaked out,

solidifies her resolve to keep to herself. But then she meets a friendly cat

and discovers a mysterious cabinet in her neighbor’s attic—a cabinet that leads

her to Renaissance Rome. Bee, who has learned about Raphael and Michelangelo in

school, never expected she’d get to meet them and see them paint their

masterpieces.

This compelling time-slip adventure by Newbery

Honor author Catherine Gilbert Murdock is full of action, mystery, history,

art, and friendship—and features one unforgettable cat.

Includes an author’s note about the art, artists, and

history that inspired the novel .