A witty and warm memoir about growing up with the help of a very special cat-from Helen Brown, internationally bestselling author of Cleo and other tales of the beloved cats in her life . . . Who was the first pet you ever loved? The youngest daughter of an eccentric engineer and a musical theater fanatic, Helen Brown grew up in the New Zealand coastal town of New Plymouth in a crumbling castle overrun by nature, and overshadowed by nearby, beautiful Mount Taranaki. It's 1966, the Pacific islands are being used for atomic bomb testing, and her parents and siblings are swept up in their own lives. Twelve years old, struggling in school, and facing eye surgery-for the second time-Helen feels lonely and lost . . . Until her father gives her a three-month-old, gray-and-brown tiger-striped tabby with extra toes on each paw. Noticing an M design on the cat's forehead, Helen names her new companion Mickey. Inquisitive, rambunctious, clever, and skittish, Mickey disrupts the already quirky household with his mischief. But Helen finds love, joy-and herself-in learning what it means to care for a living creature who needs her as much as she needs him.