The Underneath

By: Kathi Appelt

Narrated by: Gabra Zackman

There is nothing lonelier than a cat who has been loved, at least for a while, and then abandoned on the side of the road.

A calico cat, about to have kittens, hears the lonely howl of a chained-up hound deep in the backwaters of the bayou. She dares to find him in the forest, and the hound dares to befriend this cat, this feline, this creature he is supposed to hate. They are an unlikely pair, about to become an unlikely family. Ranger urges the cat to hide underneath the porch, to raise her kittens there because Gar-Face, the man living inside the house, will surely use them as alligator bait should he find them. But they are safe in the Underneath...as long as they stay in the Underneath.

Kittens, however, are notoriously curious creatures. And one kitten's one moment of curiosity sets off a chain of events that is astonishing, remarkable, and enormous in its meaning. For everyone who loves Sounder, Shiloh, and The Yearling, for everyone who loves the haunting beauty of writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Flannery O'Connor, and Carson McCullers, Kathi Appelt spins a harrowing yet keenly sweet tale about the power of love -- and its opposite, hate -- the fragility of happiness and the importance of making good on your promises.©2008 Kathi Appelt; (P)2008 Simon and Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A mysterious and magical story; poetic yet loaded with suspense." -- Louis Sachar, Newbery Medal-winning author of Holes

"The Underneath is as enchanting as a hummingbird, as magical as the clouds." -- Cynthia Kadohata, Newbery Medal-winning author of Kira-Kira

"Rarely do I come across a book that makes me catch my breath, that reminds me why I wanted to be a writer -- to make of life something beautiful, something enduring. The Underneath is a book of ancient themes -- love and loss and betrayal and redemption -- woven together in language both timeless and spellbinding. A classic." -- Alison McGhee, author of the New York Times bestselling Someday

"Kathi Appelt's novel, The Underneath, reads like a ballad sung." -- Ashley Bryan, Hans Christian Anderson Award Nominee and Three-Time Coretta Scott King Award Medalist

read before your child

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I read this book before I was planning on giving it to a reading group of 5th graders. I just thought there was SO much negativity in the book...just a bit much I guess. Maybe I'm just in the holiday spirit and this book definitely was a bit of a "downer!"

What about Gabra Zackman’s performance did you like?

great voices

very lovely story, didn't know it was for a child

loved it from start to finish, its hard to believe all the pain and suffering that went on, it was very sad at times and I almost didn't want to listen. I wouldn't expect a child to grapse the whole thing.

speak like a southerner

I struggled to finish it due to the lady reading it. The word is bye-you, not by-yo?!!!! for a speech therapist, that was so distracting. couldn't find a LA native to read it??

Love this book

I had already read this book and was just refreshing my memory with the audio book and I still love it. It has dark themes but I genuinely enjoy the writing!

Sensational, Unpredictable Love Story

My heart twisted and turned and grew and ached for the dog, the cat, her kittens, the grandmother snake and her daughter. Even the grandmothers soured heart had room for love after a thousand years! Listen to this it will change how you see life!