Bubbles with personality.
Top cat burglar Ophelia von Hairball V gets the most important assignment of her life in this sequel to Snazzy Cat Capers (2018).
A cat-astrophe is looming over the Furry Feline Burglary Institute, and they need their best agent to solve the puzzle of a lifetime. That would be Ophelia, a fluffy, white cat fond of manicures and old-fashioned heists. When Director MEW announces that all the resources of the FFBI will be at her disposal as she races to save the cat world from a threat from the Central Canine Intelligence Agency, her cousin, Pierre, who keeps his second-place standing through nefarious means, is out of his mind with envy. Once she realizes that a CCIA agent has moved in next door and is watching her every move, Ophelia has to outsmart and outmaneuver two enemies at once to win this race. She does so with an abundance of style and class. The mission’s emphasis on saving the cat world reduces the moral ambiguity of Ophelia’s burgling escapades (and she always returns her treasures—eventually). Kent’s prose is outlandishly sprinkled with animal puns, and Ophelia’s sidekick, Oscar the inventor (a goldfish), provides additional comic relief with his costumes and anxious personality. Ophelia’s confidence and competence will draw readers back to this series for more dangerous, lawless adventures. Full pages of humorous graphic panels and illustrations amusingly break up the text for young chapter-book readers.
Bubbles with personality. (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-14347-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Fans of unbridled, melodramatic tomfoolery will be over the moon.
A taste of poisoned soup spurs the Queen of the Moon and her feline companion into embarking on a quest for a curative fruit from the orbiting orb’s only golden glumpfoozle tree.
In further exploits attended by the monosyllabic, spacesuit-clad titular feline (“Meow”), Harris and Barnett bring back the cast of The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza (2022), from diaper-wearing buccaneer Captain Babybeard to computerized toenail clipper LOZ 4000, for a lunar ramble past a pair of mysterious killbots, Psychic Flying Eyeballs of Death, and other hazards. Depicted in rolling arrays of changing palettes and panel sizes and led by the opalescent Queen of the Moon—who, ignoring her loudly rumbling tummy, stoutly declares that “my reign will not be cut short by soup”—the expedition fetches up at last on the edge of a bottomless crater for a last-minute save, appropriately over-the-top grandstanding by a familiar AI with futile protagonistic ambitions (“How many pages did I get this time? 73?”), and a closing celebratory soupfest, depicted Last Supper–style by a vermiform da Vinci. This volume continues the nonstop madcap fun; returning readers will not be disappointed, and new ones will quickly become avid followers of the world’s first feline astronaut.
Fans of unbridled, melodramatic tomfoolery will be over the moon. (Graphic science fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9780063084117
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
Magical animals become a kooky, sweet metaphor for growing up.
She’s just the adorablest, teeniest of stray kittens—suddenly grown as big as a hippopotamus.
Zoe’s not supposed to bring stray animals home anymore, ever since the skunk incident. Who can resist the world’s smallest kitten, though? And it’s Zoe’s 12th birthday, and she’s been unhappy at how tall she’s grown, and she’s been crushed over her older brother’s impending departure for college; eventually, her concerned parents cave. But after Pipsqueak’s been with Zoe for just a couple of days, she’s suddenly a full-grown cat. Then she’s the size of a dog, then a lion, and after less than a week, a hippo. If the government finds out about the enormous talking feline (for Pipsqueak can speak, now, and read as well), will they take her away to Area 51? Zoe and her best friend, Harrison, begin a quest: They’ll take Pipsqueak to Zoe’s wacky New Age aunt, who’ll maybe have a solution for them. Along the way their fellowship swells with magical animals, an offbeat crew composed of a six-tailed green dog and a multicolored flying mouse. The far-fetched setup and ensuing adventure convey themes that will resonate with the audience; Pipsqueak’s as unhappy with her out-of-control body and circumstances as Zoe, and the quest may lead them to new comfort with themselves. Zoe is depicted as white on the cover, and Harrison is of South Asian descent.
Magical animals become a kooky, sweet metaphor for growing up. (Fantasy. 8-11)Pub Date: June 9, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-06502-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
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