On Earth As It Is on Television

Jane’s cutesy debut takes the old sci-fi motif of first alien contact to a far-fetched new frontier. Mysterious spaceships briefly hover over Earth’s big cities before disappearing without a trace, leaving humanity baffled. Three story lines humorously trace human and feline reactions in the fallout. Long-suffering husband Blaine bemusedly supports his wife, Anne, who he calls “superwoman”; two TV-addicted children; and their grumpy cat, Mr. Meow-Mitts, on a haphazard road trip to Disney World. Meanwhile, Oliver Smith, who’s been in a coma for decades following a terrible car accident while trying to save his sister from an abusive stepfather, abruptly wakes and is adopted by a telepathic cat, Bouchard. And spoiled Malibu teen Heather chafes against the cheesy lifestyle her wealthy TV producer stepdad Jack P and his cat, Bastet, provide her. When the alien ships—piloted by meerkat-like beings who mistake Earth’s cats for its dominant species—return, these humans gradually achieve a joint acceptance of otherness. Feline psychology plays a pivotal role in Jane’s whimsical if somewhat heavy-handed admonition that even when humans seem strangest to one another, they have more in common than they think. It’s fun, but over the top. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary. (June)