Book Review – Dewey by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter

This book isn’t a romance. It’s different from anything I’ve ever read and I highly, highly recommend it. In fact, as I write this review I’m only about halfway through the book. My husband and I are reading it together, out loud, and I keep having to stop and clear my voice as I get so choked up.

Dewey is the true story of a small-town library cat who, as the book’s caption says, touched the world. He certainly managed to become a symbol of hope and love to a small farming community.

Set in Iowa in the 1980’s, when the bottom was falling out of the corn market and large conglomerates were taking over small farms, Dewey made people feel better. Made them forget their troubles, if only for a little while. And brought a lot of love to an already close-knit community.

I love, love, love this cat. Love this community. And I love how much it reminded me about what’s important in life. Family, friends, and community. I’ve just ordered copies for my mother and my sister. And found out there are more Dewey stories out there, so I’m happy to get to spend more time with this great little kitty.

Here’s a link to the website and the blurb about Dewey’s story:

Vicki Myron was a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm and an alcoholic husband. But her biggest challenge as the new head librarian in Spencer, Iowa, was to raise the spirits of a small, out-of-the-way town mired deep in the farm crisis of the 1980s. Then, on the coldest morning of the year, Vicki found a tiny, bedraggled kitten almost frozen to death in the night drop box, and her life—and the town of Spencer—was never the same. Dewey, as the townspeople named the kitten, grew into a strutting, affable library cat whose antics kept patrons in stitches, and whose sixth sense about those in need created hundreds of deep and loving friendships. As his fame grew, people drove hundreds of miles to meet Dewey, and he even ended up in a hit television documentary…in Japan! Through it all, Dewey remained a loyal companion, a beacon of hope not just for Vicki Myron, but for the entire town of Spencer as it slowly, steadily pulled itself up from the worst financial crisis in its long history.