story: “Catskin”
author: Kelly Link
year: 2005
where: Blacksmith Coffee
note: In a review for this short story by Matt Hilliard, he writes, “The cat who in a fairy tale would have turned into a princess for him to marry was lost, though of course Small is too young to be disappointed, he wants a mother, not a wife. The fact that his mother is still with him, sort of, just makes this worse.” I could not have said this better myself.
a line: “Cats went in and out of the witch’s house all day long.’”
theme(s): Parental loss, Grief, Identity, Transformations limitations
samantha Neugebauer 