Indie Review: Cat Girl's Day Off By Kimberly Pauley

Cat Girl's Day Off By Kimberly Pauley

Published 2012 From Tu Books (An imprint of Lee & Low)

"Find out what happens when the kitty litter hits the fan..."

Natalie Ng’s little sister is a super-genius with a chameleon-like ability to disappear. Her older sister has three Class A Talents, including being a human lie detector. Her mom has laser vision and has one of the highest IQs ever. Her dad’s Talent is so complex even the Bureau of Extra-Sensory Regulation and Management (BERM) hardly knows what to classify him as.

And Nat? She can talk to cats.

The whole talking-to-cats thing is something she tries very hard to hide, except with her best friends Oscar (a celebrity-addicted gossip hound) and Melly (a wannabe actress). When Oscar shows her a viral Internet video featuring a famous blogger being attacked by her own cat, Nat realizes what’s really going on…and it’s not funny.

(okay, yeah, a frou-frou blogger being taken down by a really angry cat named Tiddlywinks, who also happens to be dyed pink? Pretty hilarious.)

Nat and her friends are catapulted right into the middle of a celebrity kidnapping mystery that takes them through Ferris Bueller’s Chicago and on and off movie sets. Can she keep her reputation intact? Can she keep Oscar and Melly focused long enough to save the day? And, most importantly, can she keep from embarrassing herself in front of Ian?

~ MY REVIEW ~

This is a quick and entertaining read. Both contemporary and sci-fi at the same time. It's what high school would be like if people with super powers coexisted with the normies. Our protagonist is a quirky girl, bottom rung on the high school food chain, who can talk to cats. Not an overly flashy Talent, but one that proves its worth. I do love cats, and this story let's you in on a cat's secrets. Definitely humorous, and adds something extra to the story line. (Especially if you're a cat-thusist!) I LOVED all the main cats in this story. The MC is accompanied by two, equally as quirky, best friends, who each have their own role to play. They reminded me of my own band of friends from school days. Together they take on quite the interesting antagonist, who has impersonated a very well known blogger. Fun and upbeat is probably the best way to describe Cat Girl's Day Off. It's light-hearted and kept me reading. However, if you're more into dramatics and extremely layered plots, this is probably not for you.  But I would classify it as a perfect, "take your mind off things" kind of read. It's exceptionally fun and just an all around great example of what YA is all about. Definitely different, and I like different.