Winner: Feathered Quill Book Awards for Animal/Children's and YA (3rd place) (2024)
Finalist: American Book Fest 'Best Book' Award for YA Fiction (2023)
Finalist: National Indie Excellence Awards for Teen Fiction (2024)

On the verge of her thirteenth birthday, Tess’s life is falling apart. Her mother is dead. Her father is like a zombie. And now her beloved cat, Alice, has started running into the street when cars go by, trying to get run over. The only thing Tess can think of that might help? Running away. As she ventures from home, Tess stumbles upon a crew of manga-loving goth kids hiding out in the local haunted house performing séances. There, she discovers that the house’s ghostly entity desperately wants a cat to care for in the afterlife, and it has its sights set on Alice. With the help of an unexpected friend and the brilliant, adorkable kid who has a huge crush on her, Tess will do whatever it takes to save Alice the cat, help the ghost, heal her dad, and survive the summer in one piece.

Praise for Alice the Cat

“Tim Cummings manages to couple the writing of an angel with the imagination of the devil. Alice the Cat slinked inside me, furtively, magnificently. My heart ached for Tess—so much loss. My heart thundered for her too—so much sass and courage. My skin crawled with hers. Sometimes I wanted to run screaming. I could not stop reading. This book is nothing short of bliss. Meow!”

– Caroline Thompson, writer of The Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands

“Alice the Cat is a vibrant, emotional tale filled with love, friendship, and mysteries. A triumphant story of survival in the face of grief and loss.”

– Jeff Zentner, award-winning author of The Serpent King and In The Wild Light

“With a wonderfully eccentric cast of characters, a dash of the paranormal, snappy dialogue, and a sparkling main character, Alice the Cat is a heartfelt romp that will enchant readers both young and old. I couldn’t put it down. The well-wrought emotional twists and turns had me laughing and sniffling in perfect proportions. Tim Cummings boldly serves up the complexities of being a tween, the challenges of grief, and the wonders of friendship in an outrageously original tale.”

–  Todd Mitchell, award-winning author of The Namer of Spirits and The Last Panther

“On the cusp of thirteen, Tess's fierce spinout into grief grips the reader from the very first sentence of a cat in mourning determined to end it all. Told with fury, pathos, and hilarity, Tim Cummings has created a masterful rendering of loss through a cast of layered and beautiful characters, that will linger and resonate long after the book is finished. Alice the Cat is a love story, brimming with hope, that reminds young readers they get to be and feel everything that happens to them for however long it takes after unspeakable losses.”

– Kerry Madden, author of Ernestine's Milky Way and The Maggie Valley Trilogy

“Tim Cummings is a magician. He’s spun the most delicious spell with Alice the Cat—this book thrums with anger and grief, yet is ultimately one of the most charming, hilarious, heart-filled, life-giving novels I’ve ever read. Tess is a narrator for the ages—I adore her playful use of language and her fierce, loving spirit. I love everything about this book—all its sentences and characters—with every last inch of my heart.”

– Gayle Brandeis, author of My Life with the Lincolns and  The Art of Misdiagnosis

“Tim Cummings’ book is transcendent. Filled with ghosts, haunted places, and tormented souls, this book follows the adventures of Tess as she becomes obsessed with saving her cat. Beautiful, tender, and powerful, Alice the Cat will grip you with its unexpected splendor.”

– Mireya S. Vela, author of Vestiges of Courage

“Alice the Cat masterfully unites elements of ghost stories, haunted houses, lost cats, Wonderland, psychic mediums, the spirit of Halloween, Ouija boards, the occult, and a girl’s journey into the twilight of adulthood while grieving the death of her mother. Cummings has created a wonder of a book with breakout doses of heart and humor, destined to be a contemporary classic.”

– Nathan Elias, author of The Reincarnations and Coil Quake Rift