It's not so bad living a dog's life. Unless you're a cat.

Most times, hanging out with Rotten Willy (the huge dog on the cover) was cool. We played chase, talked, and chowed down on spaghetti and meatballs at Luigi's restaurant. Even though he was a dog (and sometimes called me Upchuck instead of Chuck), I could handle it. He was my best friend.

Then this baseball stuff started and Willy went bonkers. I never saw him act so crazy. On top of that, these two new cats moved into our neighborhood. Trouble was, tough-guy Roscoe and his cute fuzzy sister, Rikki, did not like dogs.

Dogs belong with dogs and cats belong with cats, they said.

I was showing them the sights when I suddenly spied the dogcatcher, just waiting to trap Willy as he raced across the field with a baseball in his mouth. But Roscoe and Rikki would never understand if they found out my best friend was a dog. How could I save Willy before it was too late? What's a cat to do when he has to choose between old friends and new -- and there's no time to lose...

Bill Wallace (1947–2012) grew up in Oklahoma, where he and his friends rode horses, went fishing, and had campouts. His stories were inspired by these childhood adventures. Bill won nineteen children’s state awards and was awarded the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award for Children’s Literature from the Oklahoma Center for the Book.