To ensure his father’s loyalty to the Pope, 11-year-old Federico is allowed to freely roam the papal palace in Rome while serving as a privileged hostage. The year is 1511, and Michelangelo is painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling, while the rival artist Raphael schemes to gain access through Federico to that off-limits work in progress. Lonely Federico is quick to befriend a cat he spots exiting an odd cabinet. Events take a time-warping turn when the cat is followed by Herbert Bother, an artist and dealer from 1920s New Jersey who is hoping to get Raphael to sign a sketch to increase its value. The odd cabinet, a gift to the Pope from France, was built by Leonardo Da Vinci. No one but Herbert, and now Federico, knows it’s a time machine. Juno, Da Vinci’s time-traveling cat, brings Bee, a 21 ^st -century Italian American girl and the daughter of art historian mothers, into the story. Cleverly constructed connections across time link Federico and Bee, who must work together to resolve altered events in the 16 ^th century that would otherwise irrevocably impact history. (Ages 9-12)

“Thoroughly charming.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Original.”—Booklist (starred review)

"A story about selflessness, friendship and the importance of seeking unity through difference."—Shelf Awareness (starred review)

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 black-and-white spot art throughout of Da Vinci’s cat by Caldecott Medalist Paul O. Zelinsky, as well as an author’s note about the art, artists, and history that inspired the novel .