“7 Days in November” is the story of a group of friends in high school.  They’re “furs”, which means they’re humanoid but with animal-like fur, ears and features.  As furs they’re the minority group in this world.  They’re looked on with suspicion and expected to keep separate from humans.  Add to this the usual high school angst of relationships, friends, and parents, and you have an emotional, character-driven story.

Furball is a teenaged boy with calico cat colouring.  As male calicos are extremely rare, he’s felt like a freak and outsider most of his life.  Being the only fur in his class has made him very lonely and depressed.  There are only 5 furs in his school and they are all his friends.  They stick together and support each other.  Ty and her brother TJ are orphans who took in Farly after his parents died.  Ty’s boyfriend Bryan seems to be the solid, dependable type.  Farly’s boyfriend Bourbon has problems with his parents because they can’t accept his homosexuality. 

The story starts when Furball decides to stay home from school.  He doesn’t have anything better to do, he’s just sick and tired of being young and lonely.  Ty is also unhappy at school since she’s the only fur girl and the human girls are mean to her.  She drags Furball out to go The Strip, where they hang out in the stores. 

The story is very low-key and not much happens.  In the first few parts the conversations are very short and on the surface.  Things get a bit deeper by the 4th or 5th part, but the overall feeling is one of angst and malaise.  I feel sorry for them but not really emotionally involved in the story.  It’s hard to get to know them well enough to really care.  By part 13, there still isn’t much of a plot, just episodes strung together.  Over the course of the weekend, the friends hang out, shop, talk, and go to a party.  The “fur” thing is mostly used to make them outsiders within their society.  Because they’re different they’re perceived as inferior to the humans.  It doesn’t get cute very often and it contrasts with how “normal” they are in personality. 

So far, “7 days in November” is a low-key, character-driven story about a weekend in the lives of a circle of high school misfits who happen to have fur, ears and tails.  They live their lives, try to deal with their problems, and help each other out.  If you like teen fiction that focuses on relationships, you might want to check this out.

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While the pace is slow and the excitement is limited to as much as the equivalent of a high-five on a happy day, this story is worth a look. Its a nice little trinket to take around for a busy day’s lunch break, when you just want to relax and rest your brain. This book isn’t one of the more [more . . .]

Summary: The story follows several teenagers in high school for seven days in November. These characters had to grow up without loving family due to negligence from the people around them. They learn to love and forgive as well as learning more about themselves within the confines of their stuck up prep school. Did I mention that they were anthropomorphic [more . . .]

If you check this story out, skip the first chapter. Nothing at all happens in it, except character introductions (which can be gotten just fine from chapter two) and the fact that the main character ditched school, a fact which can also be gotten quite nicely from chapter two.

After the [more . . .]