Abi has been very happy living with her father since her mother’s death some ten years before, but when he meets Polly and they fall in love, it means that Abi’s life has changed forever. She doesn’t want the two step brothers, Max and Louis, that Polly brings with her, and because of this, she immerses herself in books. At first the enlarged family must live in a small terraced house, and this causes all sorts of ructions. But when they move into a large, old house covered with ivy, strange things begin to happen to all three children. Abi, reading one of her stories, sees a parrot fly at her in her room; Louis seems to see the parrot briefly too, but neither of them thinks much of that. It is Louis, the youngest child, who also encounters the cat. At first the cat is very small and comes in through his window at night. He is very pleased about this, but as the cat grows, he begins to be afraid of it, as well as loving and needing it. There is a great deal about the children’s relationships with each other, both good and bad, but when Louis tells the other two what is happening to his supposed cat, they all become concerned and work together to solve what has become a major problem. There is magic here, certainly, but also lots of family feeling, including parents who are determined that the situation will work. There is a French babysitter who comes into the action, along with Max’s best friend Danny, and the details of this family’s adjustments to each other and their new home feel very right-on. McKay is a marvelous author, and her writing style is superb. This is a treat of a novel which will help all kids understand the ups and downs of making one family out of two.