Yu Yoyo

In this whimsical and inventive debut—perfect for fans of The Guest Cat and Calvino’s Invisible Cities—a young couple’s daily life is disrupted by their newly adopted cat, who soon initiates them into the wondrous world of felines. Equal parts magical and humorous, Invisible Kitties tells the story of a young couple that one day accidentally comes into possession of a delightful, playful kitten. Bright eyed and bushy tailed, this new companion, aptly named Cat, upturns the routine of the narrator and her husband in their cramped apartment, and soon they find their existence forever altered as they gradually gain insight into the fantastical world of cats. Every cat contains multitudes... Charting the couple’s ever-evolving relationship with cats –some they live with, others who exist solely in their imagination– Invisible Kitties introduces us to a coterie of extraordinary, physics-defying, death-defying cats. They drop from the sky, they grow from the soil, they transmute. They fly, flow, and evaporate. The young couple’s everyday life, often eclipsed by the drama of cats, offers a gentle glimpse of how joy can suddenly sneak into our lives. Composed of sixty chapters written in Yu Yoyo’s elegant and witty style and complemented by the author’s own illustrations— Invisible Kitties is a celebration of ordinary life and the felines we love, deftly playing with the invisible boundaries between reality and imagination. Translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang

English translation of Chinese poetry.