FAITH AND THE ROCKET CAT

by Patrick Jennings ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1998

This follow-up to Faith and the Electric Dogs (1996), with its authentically doggy narrator, is as refreshingly unconventional as the original. Edison, the ""electric dog"" (a pun on el perro corriente, which can also be translated as ""mutt""), again takes pen in mouth to relate an aerial adventure with his young human companion, Faith. For Edison, the move from his small Mexican town to San Francisco means both the ecstasy of pork dumplings and the pleasure of pursuing Daphne, a ravishing whippet who shares what he calls his porklust; for Faith, however, the move to her hometown brings back memories of her dead father, plus all-too-present classroom nemesis Alex Wao. Strewing his memoir with phrases in Spanish, Chinese, Bowwow, Mew, Turkish, and other languages--all translated in the margins and in a glossary at the back--Edison places himself, Daphne, Faith, and her irritable but loving mother, Alex, aboard a homemade rocket, which, as it is fueled by pig fat, comes down in the middle of Death Valley. All is not lost, though, as another rocket (powered by olive oil and garlic) has crashed nearby. In a plot as full of twists and surprises as its two unusually talented main characters, Faith is able to get everyone back home, rescue her beloved lost cat, Veevy, and ease her own grief in the bargain. A blissful multilingual escapade.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1998

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 232

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1998

Categories: CHILDREN'S