The Cat at the Wall by Deborah Ellis

A cat sneaks into a small Palestinian house on the West Bank that has been commandeered by two Israeli soldiers. The house seems empty, until the cat realizes that a little boy is hiding beneath the floorboards.
Should she help him?

After all, she’s just a cat.

Or is she?

It turns out that this particular cat was once a regular North American girl, one who wasn't used to thinking about anyone but herself. That was before she died and came back to life as a cat, in a place with a whole different set of rules for survival. 

While the premise of a teenager being reincarnated as a cat seemed bizarre at first the author has cleverly developed an engrossing story narrated by a cat/teen.  The story alternates between her American girl life and her cat life in a conflict zone.
As a girl reincarnated as a cat she still thinks like human, but her behaviour as a cat and the response of the people around her to a cat, means she is uniquely placed to experience the unfolding drama of the situation she finds herself in. 

This is a story of amazing complexity for such a short book (142 pages) and it is a very rewarding read.  Highly recommended.