The Underneath by Kathi Appelt

Appelt, K. (2008).  The Underneath. New York, NY. Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

The Underneath is the description for the area under the porch of the house where Ranger lives with his master Gar Face who is a mean and abusive man.  Ranger protects a stray pregnant calico cat and her later her kittens Puck and Sabine by helping them to hide underneath and away from Gar Face.  When Puck surfaces from the underneath, he is caught by Gar Face along with his mother and they are then used as Alligator King (a very large alligator that is over 1000 years old) bait. Another story continues to be woven within the stories of these animals friends and of Gar Face himself.  Grandmother Moccasin, Night Song, and Hawk Man reveal their own story and how Grandmother Moccasin came to be buried in a pot underneath the roots of a tree for over a thousand years until one day lightening strikes the tree and the pot resurfaces.  The stories connect when sadly the mother cat is drowned, Puck escapes, and Sabine and Ranger try to take care of each other.  Gar Face is eaten by the Alligator King and the Grandmother Moccasin is freed from the tree and the pot and then decides to free the animal family front their chains.  

The plot stands out in this book mostly for its multiple perspectives and story lines that are in the end connected.  The plot of several stories goes back and forth with each chapter and is woven through out the entire book.  This is not an easy plot to follow for younger readers who have not developed a concept for several different stories at once.  Each story is very different from the next with characters and even time. Gar Face is a human story that explains the reasons for his behavior and anger.  The talking animals develop a heartfelt story of life and family and the ancient story of the strange half human/animal creatures seem like something out of greek mythology. It provides a unique blend of people, animals, and magical creatures.

See if it's a book you would like to read at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IwFChjedMg