I'm trying to remember the name of a classic children's science fiction novel. The protagonist is a black girl in the foster system whose name begins with N - Naima or Naella or something like that. She has gone through a succession of unpleasant foster homes and isn't really attached to anyone. She finds aliens (who I believe are posing as mice?) and helps them accomplish something. I think the book itself had very detailed black-and-white pencil illustrations. The book ends with the heroine deciding to go with the aliens into space. Please help me! Thank you :)
Found it - Star Ka'at by Andre Norton.
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1Welcome to the site. Suggest you provide some details as to why you believe this is the book. – Stan Dec 9 '14 at 2:42
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I can kind of see how "Ellie May" could get remembered as something like "Naella". But it does seem like a bit of a stretch to go from telepathic cat aliens to alien mice. Add to that two different "subvillain" people... – FuzzyBoots Dec 9 '14 at 5:12