A very readable story about Jacob Tibbs, the runt of a litter of kittens born upon a sailing ship in 1847. His mother is renowned for her ability to warn the Captain about storms at sea. Nobody wants to buy Jacob, so he ends up staying on board. But soon a terrible storm will leave him orphaned and drifting in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. An entertaining story. ( )

The Nine Lives of Jacob Tibbs is recommended for children/middle grades, but as an adult, I also enjoyed this book. It is an historical adventure about a packing ship and it's journey told from the perspective of a ship's cat in the mid 1800s. It is a very realistic story and the author does not mince words. He tells about life on a packing ship including the bad situations that occurred during this time. The story moved along very well with this reader wanting to read just one more chapter before putting the book down to do other things that had to be done.

Jacob Tibbs was born to Mrs. Tibbs, the proud ship cat of the Melissa Rae. He was the runt of the litter and also had white paws, which superstition says is bad luck and that the cat would be a useless "ratter"The writing is smooth . Because of this, his brothers and sisters were snapped up by other ship captains, but Jacob was never selected. Melissa, the daughter of Captain Natick, convinced her father to keep Jacob so he became the second ship's cat aboard the Melissa Rae. He wanted to become a great ship's cat like his mother and would not give up trying to learn how to rat. It turns out that he also had the gift of warning the ship about coming storms. In the story, there are dangerous storms causing injury and death, harsh conditions, nasty sailors, talk of mutiny, being set adrift in a small boat and more. Jacob sticks with his captain through it all and saves his life more than once. He has a difficult time figuring out humans but he seems to come through with the proper decisions.

The other characters, both main and supporting all add much to the story. From sailors who will pet Jacob one day and then threaten to throw him overboard the next, to a captain trying to do the right thing but also feeling the pressure of turning a profit with each voyage. The characters all show their own personalities; some are greedy and selfish, while others stand up for their beliefs and would rather save lives than make money. In the end, Jacob comes out ahead and with his Captain thrilled that he decided to keep "the runt". There are a few beautiful black and white illustrations scattered throughout the book to give just a little idea of what the action might look like.

The theme of the story is Tibbs coming into his own from kitten to juvenile, while proving his worth and loyalty to the ship, crew and especially the captain. The idea of loyalty and doing what is right is also apparent. This book is right up there with children's classics such as Robinson Crusoe and Swiss Family Robinson in my mind. I absolutely loved Jacob Tibbs, Captain Natick, Moses and Chippy and thing they are worthy characters for any story. I would definitely recommend this book to public, school, class and family libraries. It is wonderful.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

The general tone of this book reminded me a great deal of Black Beauty, which I first read over 40 years ago. The story is told by the cat himself, in the first person. The cat has great understanding of human things, including reading text—just suspend your disbelief. The author must be a cat person; her descriptions of cat behavior are very real.

The story itself is all right. While there are some exciting moments, there is nothing to carry the reader away. Overall editing is good, with a few minor hiccups. The characterization is probably the best part of this story, from Jacob to Captain Natick, the feelings and personalities are real.

Overall, a pleasant read, but nothing that says “I’ve gotta read this again.”

Possible Objectionable Material:
Violent storms, killing rats. Some characters are castaways on an island for a while and must make do in primitive conditions.

Who Might Like This Book:
Those who like cats, sailing ships, and historical settings. Boys or girls. (Actually, there are only two female characters, neither of whom is in the book for very long, plus a couple of wives that we meet at the very end.) Lexile Measure: 1020

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC. ( )

Jacob Tibbs is the runt of his litter. He watches as, one-by-one, sailors buy and bear away his brothers and sisters to be ship cats on other ships - leaving only him and his mother. The captain's daughter begs her father to save Jacob despite his small size and his white paws (that are glow-in-the-dark beacons to the ship rats). And it's a good thing the captain saves Jacob, because he has his mother's talent for predicting weather...and a huge storm is brewing.

I know I bragged about how awesome my last NetGalley book was, but this book was equally awesome for different reasons. This was just an adorable and fun book to read. I actually learned some interesting tidbits about ships from this book - Busby must have done a lot of research. I'm a cat person, and I loved the way Jacob always explained his actions with cat-like anthropomorphic reasoning (instead of just sounding like a human mind in a cat). I was surprised at how much action could be packed into a book this short. There was always something going on that made me want to read the next chapter. This book was so sweet and fun! I wish I had an appropriately-aged kid to read it to.

I highly recommend this book for middle grade readers starting with precocious third graders. While you're getting it for your child, read it yourself. You won't regret it. ( )