Katie the Catsitter #1 Colleen A.F. Venable. Illustrated by Stephanie Yue. 2021. [January] 229 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: Come on. Come on. Perfect.
Premise/plot: Katie, our heroine, is desperate to save enough money so she can afford to go to the same camp as one of her best, best friends. But money is hard to come by--no matter how willing, no matter how desperate. But after several failed attempts (turns out that she kills houseplants!) at earning money, she's offered a job by her upstairs neighbor, Ms. Madeline Lang. The job???? Catsitting. How many cats can one lady in New York City (living in an apartment building) have???? Turns out quite a lot! Katie finds herself taking care of "just" 217 cats!!!
The job pays well--very well! But it isn't without its moments. Turns out these cats are, well, special. As is Ms. Lang herself. This graphic novel for middle graders is set in a world (in New York City to be precise) where superheroes and villains are just as real as you and me. And there's always spottings of both heroes and villains...both on the news...and in person.
Could Ms. Lang have a couple of secrets she's keeping from Katie...and the world?
My thoughts: I liked this one. I did. I really liked it. I LOVED the 217 cats. The world building is fun. This appears to be the first in a series. I like that even though so many things are fantastical about it--superheroes, villains, sidekicks, etc--it is grounded in the real world. Turns out that you can have trouble with friendships no matter what. And Katie is struggling with maintaining her old friendships. It seems her friends may be moving on and moving up...
This was my favorite part of the book:
Bethany,
If you ever wonder how much I value your friendship, please measure it in cats. 217 cats. That's how much I care about you. Can't wait to tell you more about this job, but GOOD NEWS!!!! At this rat I should have the money by nocturnal week!!! You know, if I don't get murdered by lasers or evil cats first.
© 2021 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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