Read The Cat That Went to Homecoming Online
Authors: Julie Otzelberger
Tags: #friendship, #forgiveness, #depression, #cat, #fun, #dance, #divorce, #social issues, #bullying, #homophobia, #homecoming, #overweight, #social isolation, #teenage girl, #pet cat, #family separation, #pet partners
The Cat That Went to Homecoming
by Julie
Otzelberger
Published by
Fire and Ice
A Young Adult Imprint of Melange
Books, LLC
White Bear Lake, MN 55110
The Cat That Went to Homecoming,
Copyright 2014 by Julie Otzelberger
ISBN:
978-1-61235-822-2
Names, characters, and incidents
depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or
are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales,
organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher. No part of
this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
Published in the United States of
America.
Cover Design by Lynsee
Lauritsen
THE CAT THAT WENT TO
HOMECOMING
by Julie
Otzelberger
The Cat That Went To Homecoming is the coming
of age story of Ellen Jones, an overweight teenage girl from a
single family home. She is under constant attack by her peers,
bullied because of her weight and her family's poverty. Through
volunteer work with her cat, Hershey, Ellen finds her self esteem
and the courage to stand up to her bullies. Along the way, she
discovers what true friendship and forgiveness are and tells us how
Hershey became The Cat That Went To Homecoming.
"The Cat That Went To Homecoming addresses
many serious social issues including family separation, bullying,
homophobia, social isolation, and depression. The compelling story
is also about fun, friendship, and forgiveness."
—Paula Scott-Ginn, Pet Partners Marketing
Coordinator
Table of Contents
"The Cat That Went to Homecoming"
Foreword
Pet Partners® is proud to have played a role
in Julie Otzelberger’s coming-of-age novel,
The Cat that went to
Homecoming
. Written from the perspective of a bullied teenage
girl named Ellen, the story describes many positive changes that
occur during the summer that Ellen begins her journey toward
becoming a Pet Partners therapy animal team with her cat
Hershey.
Do you like stories where the ‘good guys’ get
revenge on the ‘bad guys’? If so, this isn’t the book you’re
looking for.
The Cat that went to Homecoming
is instead a
novel where compassion and maturity triumph. That doesn’t mean the
story is dull—actually, quite the opposite is true!
The Cat that went to Homecoming
addresses many serious social issues including family separation,
bullying, homophobia, social isolation, and depression. The
compelling story is also about fun, friendship and forgiveness. The
transformations throughout the novel are not always a direct result
of Hershey’s affectionate personality, but Ellen does gain
self-confidence as she gets involved with Pet Partners. This
strength helps her overcome many other problems in her life.
Pet Partners was established in 1977 as Delta
Society by several veterinarians and a psychiatrist who recognized
the importance of the human-animal bond. They proposed and funded
initial research that proves the health and emotional benefits of
interacting with pets. Now recognized as a legitimate field of
study, Animal-Assisted Therapy continues to be researched and
taught within major universities.
As the organization evolved, it launched one
of the first visiting animal programs in 1990. Volunteers team with
their calm, affectionate pets to provide comfort, motivation and
entertainment to residents of nursing homes, hospitals, schools,
and other facilities where animals are not typically allowed. Major
health care organizations now consider Pet Partners to be the gold
standard. We currently register over 11,000 therapy animal teams
across North America. Although the majority of registered therapy
animals are dogs and cats, Pet Partners also registers horses,
rabbits, birds and other domesticated species.
Ms. Otzelberger told us that the character of
Hershey is based upon her own cat Bear. She and Bear recently
became a registered Pet Partners therapy animal team and are
already experiencing what other teams report to us daily; that
visiting people in facilities where pets cannot be kept is just as
beneficial for the therapy animal handler as it is for the person
visited.
Most high schools now require a certain
number of community service hours from students. If you have a
special pet—and if it makes you happy to bring joy to other
people—you’ll be interested in reading about the steps Ellen and
Hershey take together to become a registered Pet Partners therapy
animal team. Of course, you’ll enjoy a lot of other things about
this novel too; the main characters will seem like good friends and
you’ll be hoping that Ms. Otzelberger writes another book about
Ellen and Hershey soon!
Paula Scott-Ginn
Pet Partners Marketing Coordinator
Bellevue, WA
July 2013
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my daughter, Ashley
“Peanut” Marie, and to the bullies in her life who helped to shape
her into the strong, compassionate woman she is today.
I have to thank the many bullies in my past
life for shaping my life as well. You broke me down, you hurt me,
but you made me a better person than you. Thank you all for showing
me that ugliness is not only skin deep and beauty is in the eye of
the beholder.
Kevin, thank you for always loving me no
matter what the scale said or what the size tag on my dress read.
You’ve always made me feel like the most beautiful woman in the
world.
Sharon Hust, Kathy Shultz, and Mom: thank you
for your invaluable editorial help.
I love my sisters with all my heart, my
Mother and Father, my Stepmother, my Aunt Marilyn, my
Mother–In-law, Stepson, and Bother-in-law. Thank you all for being
in my life. There are so many more! I don’t have space to name you
all, but you are all special.
Kelly Rea, Nadine Uttke, Kathy Schulz, and
Kris Ochocki: you know why! XOXO
Preface
“We can judge the heart of a man by
his treatment of animals.”
Immanuel Kant, German
philosopher
Chapter One
It didn’t matter whether he was my date or
not, Hershey would be going to Homecoming with me! For two weeks I
had taken painstaking efforts to keep my dress pristine. My one
mistake was laying it across the bed outside the confines of its
protective garment bag while I showered. Oh well, I should have
known Hershey wouldn’t let Ellen Ellen Watermelon go to her first
dance without him.
Homecoming is the first big event of the
school year. It centers on a football game played to honor the
alumni of the school, and during halftime a senior boy and a senior
girl are crowned the “Homecoming King and Queen”. It’s really
nothing more than a popularity contest. To me it’s a very shallow
and meaningless event, but to the popular crowd, it is the
highlight of the year.
Dressing up and having my hair and nails
professionally styled was so out of character for a simple girl
like me. If you had told me a four months ago that I would be doing
this, I would have thought you were joking. But the unthinkable
happened; the fat girl was going to Homecoming! Let me tell you how
it happened.
My real name is Ellen Jones, not Ellen Ellen
Watermelon. My mom and I lived alone in a dumpy house in the poor
side of a subdivision in rural Wisconsin. I have no idea how my
parents could afford the house in the first place. After they
divorced, Mom and I stayed in the house while my dad moved on to
another state with another woman, raising another child, and forgot
all about me. I often wished Mom and I had been the ones to move
out of state. Maybe the kids in Ohio were nicer than the ones
here.
My parents split up when I was in seventh
grade. Shortly after my dad moved out, my mom got me a kitten to
help me cope. He was a little black fluff ball with big blue eyes
that changed to green when he got older. I named him Hershey, my
little Hershey Kiss
We lived in small rural community where most
of the residents were moderately wealthy families. You know, where
the moms didn’t have to work, “Soccer Moms” as my mom put it, and
the dads wore suits and ties to work. The kids all wore name-brand
clothing and expensive shoes. Girls my age went to hairdressers for
cuts regularly and some even got their hair colored.
My mom worked as a cashier at the local
Wal-Mart and did her best to support us. She couldn’t buy me Nike
shoes, but I never complained. Nikes wouldn’t stop the kids from
teasing me anyway. I had never been to a hairdresser. My mom cut my
hair herself and she did a fine job.
I was overweight. Most of our meals consisted
of high calorie staples Mom would get at the local food pantry:
salty government cheese, canned chili, and canned veggies. Fresh
fruits, vegetables, and other perishables are not usually given
out. Mom was able to buy us those things most of the time, but
during the leaner weeks of the month, we relied on grilled cheese
sandwiches or Hamburger Helper.
Hershey was overweight too. We could not
afford to feed him high-end cat food so he ate the less expensive
commercial brands. He also ate a lot of “people food” that I shared
with him. After all, he and I were best friends so we shared
everything! He was the most important companion in my life so if he
wanted the crust from my sandwich, he got it. His comfort was of
the utmost importance to me. He slept next to me every night and if
I needed to roll over, I would do it carefully so I wouldn’t
disrupt his sleep.
Grade school was the most traumatic time of
my life because I was teased mercilessly. My classmates would call
me “JMS” because jeans from Abercrombie and Fitch didn’t fit girls
built like me. I wore Just My Size from Wal-Mart. They also called
me “Ellen Ellen Watermelon.” They would poke me with sharpened
pencils to see if I’d pop like a balloon. I was always picked last
in gym class. I didn’t want anyone to see my fat jiggle, so I never
ran. Nobody wants someone on their kickball team who walks to base.
In dodge ball, I was a favorite target. God, how I hated dodge
ball!
