Response to Cary

            The story was about a boy named Cyril who seems to have some sort of mental disability. He lives close to some girls that he likes and he sort of creeps on them. The girl catches him in her room and throws him out when she finds him reading her diary and tells him not to come back or she will call the cops. He doesn’t seem to understand why the girls who live there don’t like him because his father has always told him he is better because he is different. He then continues to Captain D’s, which he always does, because he is friends with the owner and he gets fish sandwiches that he shares with a stray cat he calls Jimmy-cat. After he has eaten his friend tells Cyril to get Jimmy cat because he will cook the cat his own fish patty. When Cyril approaches the dumpster area that Jimmy-cat live in he finds the cat in the corner covered in what looks like ketchup and little white things that are crawling. He then gets Earl, his friend, and Earl tells Cyril that Jimmy-cat is a girl and that those are kittens crawling on her. This makes Cyril very happy and the story ends with Earl and him laughing together.

            I really liked this story because I definitely have a soft spot for people with disabilities as well as kittens. I also loved the list in the diary Cyril was reading. I thought the things on the list were so funny as well as creative. I also really liked the ending because it tricked me. When I read that the cat was covered in red stuff and crawling white things I thought the cat was dead and that maggots or something were on it, therefore I was very happy to find out that the cat was not dead it had kittens and I didn’t understand because we see the story through Cyril’s eyes and he doesn’t understand. I liked the kitten ending a lot because I am a sucker for cats and I probably would have cried if the cat had been dead. I also liked the ending because you can tell that Cyril has become genuinely happy, whereas before he just seemed to question everything.

            The only thing I would suggest really would be to add more to the end. I wanted to see how Cyril would’ve interacted with the new kittens. I understand you were just setting him up for the change, but I found myself really wanting to go through the change with him and see how he interacts with the new kittens through his eyes.