Feather’s Girl: A Coming of Age Book for Girls 10 to 13 (The Morley Stories)

From the Author\nExcerpt from Chapter 1 of Feather's Girl:
"I'm sorry, Morley," she says, interrupting me. "Listen to me. Now isn't the right time to get a cat. We've just had a lovely lunch out together and you have some beautiful gifts. Why don't you have a look at them? You need to remember to be grateful for what you've got. And you have some Thank You letters to write too, don't you?"
Thank you letters are another rule at our house. You have to write them the same day you get a gift. Just saying, "Hey, thanks," in an email isn't enough, Mom says.
That would be if I could send an email. There's a no computer rule in our house, and I'm not allowed to use her phone. Also, I can't have my own phone.
I'm so disappointed, I want to cry. Or maybe yell at someone. I'm too upset to make jewellery, or draw something, or read, or do anything.
"Yeah," I said. "Maybe. Later. I'm, uh, going for a walk..."
"Fine. Be back by 4, because we're going to the beach. I promised Daisy..."
I grab my bike that Dom fixed almost like it was after Julia stomped on it and head for the pet shelter.
There, I check on Feather. He's still in his cage, curled up, falling asleep.
Feather, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I tell him in my mind.
Girl. Gone, he says. Then he's sleeping.
I race through all the tasks they ask me to do, watching the clock. I get those jobs for the other pets done in record time, so I can have a long, long cuddle with Feather. I wash my hands and lift him out of his cage. I sink my face into his soft fur. His head smells like carnations and cinnamon.
Girl, he says.
Morley, I remind him. I'm Morley.
Want to go home, he says. Take me home.
He starts to purr. He has a really soft purr, so soft you have to be cuddling him to even hear it.
He looks up at me and puts one soft white paw on my cheek.
I whisper to him about what it will be like, when he comes home with me.
When he is mine.
And I am his.
I promise him that it will be soon. I say it out loud. Because I need to hear it. I need to believe.
Most of all, I need to hope.\nHow hard can it be to adopt the kitten you’ve fallen in love with and put your family back together?
As Morley Star’s 11th birthday dawns, she’s convinced her wish to adopt Feather will finally come true. Surely getting him for her very own is the birthday surprise her mother has promised?\nAnd maybe…just maybe…she will finally meet her father. Her real father.\nBut Morley is about to have a very different birthday and summer vacation than the one she hopes for. There will be more secrets revealed and surprises as she searches for what she’s always needed and wanted.\nGetting her family back together and saving Feather won’t happen unless Morley takes some big risks and faces even bigger dangers.\nFeather’s Girl is the second in a heartwarming series of realistic novels that take place in a small seaside town. It's a place where nothing - and everything - happens for real girls with big dreams! A coming-of-age novel series to enchant grade 5 and middle school readers ages 10 to 13.