The sign of the cat / Jonell, Lynne

Duncan, eleven, is very smart with the rare ability to speak Cat, but his mother has always insisted he appear only average, and when a perfect test score draws attention to him, he not only discovers the wisdom of his mother's rules, he finds himself crossing the seas on a quest for his true identity.

Eleven-year-old Duncan McKay uses his ability to communicate with his companions Fia, a kitten, and Brig, a tiger, to aid him on a journey to claim his rightful place as heir to his island kingdom. Duncan is enlisted to serve a crew of pirates and sent to the far edges of his kingdom in the course of his adventurous quest.