Hilda Eunice Burgos Concludes Heartfelt Series with 'Bodega Cats: Pawsome Pals'

By Amaris Castillo

In Bodega Cats: Pawsome Pals, the final installment of Hilda Eunice Burgos’ series, readers meet Gregory. The fifth-grader lives and breathes baseball. But when he breaks his leg during a slide mid-game, Gregory is forced to face a new, uncomfortable reality. Not sure when he can play again, he’s forced to spend most of his time at his parents’ bodega.

Meanwhile, street three-legged cat Amber watched the accident happen from behind a bush. She is curious about Gregory, and doesn’t believe the boy is dangerous despite all the things her friend, Gramps, has told her about humans.

What follows is a heartwarming story about one's shifting values in self-worth and the true meaning of friendship. Out now, the story of Gregory and Amber concludes Burgos’ Bodega Cats series from Henry Holt & Company. Each book was illustrated by Siara Faison. “From the very beginning it was supposed to be a three-book series, so I’m pleased with how each book turned out,” Burgos told the Dominican Writers Association. 

Read on to follow our full conversation with the Dominican-American author.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Bodega Cats: Pawsome Pals follows Gregory, a boy who loves baseball and soon finds himself struggling after an injury. Meanwhile, there's a stray cat with three legs who finds herself curious about this human boy, Gregory. What was the inspiration behind your final installment of your series?

If you read Bodega Cats: Just Kitten Around, you know that I first introduced Gramps and Amber in that book. While I was writing all three books, I did all sorts of research and learned that it’s sometimes hard for disabled cats to find permanent homes. I think people feel like they might require extra care, and that it’s hard. That might be true about some disabilities, but tripod cats get along just fine. I remember talking to my vet about it, and she said, ‘Three legs are just as good as four. They don’t even need the fourth leg, so they’re fine.’ 

One of my motivations for making Amber the main cat character was that I wanted to dispel any misconceptions that tripod cats are more difficult to care for than four-legged cats. I wanted to address ableism both among cats and among people. I’ve also heard stories about cats kind of adopting people, so I wanted Amber to kind of adopt Gregory. And I wanted there to be a reason why she felt a connection to him. When he breaks a leg, it makes him similar to Amber in her eyes. 

Obviously Gregory’s condition is temporary, but he’s a very active 11-year-old boy. So for him, this is really, really difficult. It’s really tough to see yourself as different from what you’ve always been. Those are feelings that I imagine many readers either have dealt with, or might deal with in the future. I remember reading a book called It’s All or Nothing, Vale (by Andrea Beatriz Arango). One of the things she says is that everybody is either disabled or pre-disabled. We’re all going to get there eventually, so let’s start getting rid of the ableism and seeing how everybody has worth.

One striking part of this story is the differing beliefs by the cat characters towards humans. There are those who don't trust people and feel that they only cause harm to animals. And there are those who give people the benefit of the doubt. Can you describe how you came to paint those sentiments on the page?

Another thing I learned through my research is that there are certain feral cats that can never be domesticated. When cat rescue groups trap cats, it’s called TNR: trap, neuter, release. They take certain cats who can’t really be placed in homes, neuter them and then let them back out. 

Obviously we can’t know what’s going on in those cats’ minds, but I was trying to imagine what kind of cat would never, ever want to live with humans. So I imagined a cat like Gramps. He feels like he’s been discriminated against by humans because he only has one eye. That’s his thing; he doesn’t trust humans. He thinks humans are fine for perfect cats, but if a cat has any kind of defect, then they can’t trust humans. That’s what he teaches Amber. But she’s her own cat and she has her own way of thinking. She has fond memories from when she was a kitten. Her mother told her good things about people, and she saw people being nice to her siblings. She’s hopeful that she can find her special person.

It is a challenge for Gregory to fight the negative thoughts and doubts in his head about what comes next after his injury. What message were you hoping to send to readers by capturing his personal journey?

At first he feels like he’s only of value when he’s healthy. He’s only of value to his team if he’s scoring runs. He’s only of value to his family if he’s helping out at the bodega. But he learns that being fast and physically healthy isn’t everything. He can still be a good friend, a good son, a good teammate, even with his leg in a cast. Winning ball games and stocking shelves at the bodega at record speed are not the most important things in the world. The message I want for readers who might be dealing with similar issues is that they can put things into perspective. If things don’t turn out the way you want them to, don’t worry about it so much because your values are going to change, as his values change. Gregory ended up feeling like playing for the fun of it is worth it. It’s not always about winning. Being the best baseball player isn’t the most important thing. Being a good friend is important.

I thought the idea of a lucky stone was a nice story thread. Gregory believes his good fortune in baseball comes partly from this piece of amber gifted to him by his late abuelo in the Dominican Republic. Dominican amber is a big point of pride in our culture. How did you think about incorporating that?

Well, it was definitely a Dominican thing. Each main character (across the series) is different. One of the things that I always strive to do in all of my books, because they all feature Dominican characters, is show some very Dominican things. But I also want to show that we’re all different. There’s no such thing as a typical Dominican person. In the second book, Yesenia has never even been to the DR, but she’s just as Dominican as her friend Frankie, who came from there. And she’s just as Dominican as Gregory, who goes there periodically. I wanted to give him more of a relationship to the Dominican Republic than the other characters had. So he loves baseball, and he has a relationship with his cousin. He had a relationship with his grandfather. He’s got this Dominican amber stone. And he just feels a connection. I wanted it to be a connection to his roots and to his grandfather and his family.

Of the three books in the series, was there one installment that was the most challenging to write?

I don’t know that I would say any of them was more challenging than the others. Each of them had their own challenges here and there. With Amber, I wanted her to have a little bit of Gramps’ cynicism because she’d been discriminated against. But I didn’t want her to have too much of it. And I didn’t want her story to be super sad either. I played around with a bunch of different backstories for her, and so that was the most challenging thing for me from that book. 

What do you hope readers take away from Bodega Cats: Pawsome Pals?

I hope that kids learn that you’re not only a value when you’re healthy. But also Amber, from the beginning, wanted to be very independent. She didn’t want anybody to help her. I also want readers to see that it’s okay to be vulnerable. It’s okay to need help. It’s okay to accept help. That doesn’t mean you’re weak. So I feel like both Gregory and Amber have things to teach kids.

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Read an excerpt: Bodega Cats: Pawsome Pals

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About the Author:

Hilda Eunice Burgos was born and raised in Washington Heights, New York City. The first time Hilda read a book—back when she was a student at P.S. 132—she knew she wanted to be a writer. After graduating from the Bronx High School of Science, Hilda headed to Philadelphia to attend the University of Pennsylvania and later Harvard Law School for her law degree. She and her husband have two grown children and an adorable dog named Bear. She is the author of Ana María Reyes Does Not Live in a Castle, The Cot in the Living Room, and Miosotis Flores Never Forgets.

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About the Illustrator:

Siara Faison is a bookseller turned illustrator from all over California. If she's not drawing, you can find her bingeing movies with her husband, sister, and old cat, Kitty.

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Amaris Castillo is a journalist, writer, and the creator of Bodega Stories, a series featuring real stories from the corner store. Her journalism has appeared in The New York Times, the Lowell Sun, the Bradenton Herald, Remezcla, Latina Magazine, Parents Latina Magazine, and elsewhere. Her creative writing has appeared in La Galería Magazine, Spanglish Voces, PALABRITAS, Dominican Moms be Like..., and is forthcoming in Quislaona: A Dominican Fantasy Anthology. Her short story, "El Don," was a finalist for the 2022 Elizabeth Nunez Caribbean-American Writers’ Prize by the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival. Amaris lives in Florida with her family. You can follow her work at amariscastillo.com.