When veteran YA author Eric Walters decided to seek some friendly advice in writing his latest novel, he didn’t just find himself an editor: he enlisted 800 of them. Every Monday for 10 weeks, students from all across the Toronto District School Board read a new instalment, then e-mailed Walters their comments. The resulting book is Catboy – and yes, even the title was a suggestion from one of Walters’ young readers.

Whether or not the novel’s authentic-sounding narrative voice also stems from this co-operative approach I can’t say, but the book does a good job incorporating the theme of cultural diversity into a personal story about accepting change.

Taylor and his mother have moved from a small town in northern Ontario to downtown Toronto, but there’s more than just a new home to get used to. Busy streets and a diverse population are all part of the adjustment to city life. After school one day, Taylor and his pal Simon find a junkyard colony of feral cats. When the junkyard is slated for demolition, it’s up to Taylor and his friends to save the cats and find them a new home.

Taylor’s voice is the novel’s greatest strength, and his relationship with the cat colony, and one cat in particular, is where the story really engages. Early establishing scenes depicting the diverse backgrounds of Taylor’s classmates may come off as a little heavy-handed, but perhaps less so for kids in less multicultural areas and cities. Same goes for the references to the United Nations, which Taylor is studying at school. What really matters are the parallels between Taylor’s life and the plight of the cat colony. Caring for these other displaced creatures brings Taylor more fully into his own new community and more fully into his identity as well.