Katie the Catsitter

Author: Colleen AF Venable
Illustrator: Stephanie Yue

© Date: 2021
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books
Pages: 206
Chapters: Yes
Illustrations: Yes, graphic novel
Publisher Recommended Age: 8-12
Bonus Activities at End of Book: Not really, pages of cat names with special skills and author/illustrator information details

Summary from Book: Meet Katie the Catsitter–some heroes have capes…Katie has cats!

From the publisher website: Katie is dreading the boring summer ahead while her best friends are all away at camp–something that’s way out of Katie and her mom’s budget, UNLESS Katie can figure out a way to earn the money for camp herself. But when Katie gets a job catsitting for her mysterious upstairs neighbor, life get interesting. First, Madeline has 217 cats (!) and they’re not exactly . . . normal cats. Also, why is Madeline always out EXACTLY when the city’s most notorious villain commits crimes?! Is it possible that Katie’s upstairs neighbor is really a super villain? Can Katie wrangle a whole lot of wayward cats, save a best friendship (why is Beth barely writing back? And who’s this boy she keeps talking about?!), AND crack the biggest story in the city’s history? Some heroes have capes . . . Katie has cats!

Page Pig Thoughts: Hooray for Katie the Catsitter! This one has the lighthearted superhero humor that I appreciated in Shannon Hale’s Squirrel Girl, but has its own special blend of a twelve year old girl finding herself and the navigating the tricky world of friendships. The cats and all of their special skills were entertaining. The Mousetress and Katie the Catsitter are a nice combination of animal lovers and superhero sorts. Although the Mousetress’s methods can make you really think about what is acceptable when you are trying to do something good. Goofy superhero stories are always entertaining, and this one doesn’t disappoint.

This one gets a Page Pup thumbs up. We will definitely be looking for more Katie the Catsitter books.

Family Unit: Katie lives with her mom. Katie’s best friend Bethany lives with her mother and father.

Conflict/Social Issues:

The Mousetress has been committing crimes to save animals. Something bad to do something good.
Katie’s friends get to go to summer camp and she is left behind.
Katie’s mom works nights, so Katie is on her own a lot.

Positive Items:

When Katie doesn’t have enough money to go to summer camp with her friends, she works to earn the money to go.
Katie finds confidence in herself and finds her own summer adventures, which include making a new friend.
Katie is responsible while she is on her own…well, maybe minus putting on a superhero/supervillain costume and going out to release someone from prison.
Mr. B and Madeline talk to Katie and help her work through issues when her mom is unavailable.
Through all of the cats’ special skills, we can see that it takes a lot of different skills to make a good team. You never know when your skills are the ones in demand.

Items of Interest:

Katie’s mom works nights, so Katie is left alone a lot. Katie’s mom brings home fresh poppers for Katie and spends time with her when she is off work. Her mom is even willing to go to the wax museum with Katie, even though the wax museum creeps her out.
Jess and Bethany are leaving for camp for the summer, but Katie does not have enough money to go. She tries doing odd jobs to raise money, but discovers that she is not the best at watering plants or hauling groceries.
Katie and her mom don’t have much money. When Bethany’s mom offers to pay for a week of camp so Katie can go with Bethany, Katie turns her down and says that she would like to raise the money herself.
Katie and Bethany dye part of their hair teal before Bethany leaves for camp.
Katie has a kooky art teacher. Katie responds to her art teacher with a slight bit of sass, but the art teacher does come by and criticize and draw on Katie’s art.
Katie hangs out in the bodega with Mr. B when she needs to chat with someone.
Katie’s friend, Jess, has a crush on everyone. While at camp, Bethany, gets a crush on a boy and stops sending many postcards.
Bethany and Katie were sending each other postcards while Bethany was away at camp. Bethany’s postcards stop coming as frequently and start looking different. Katie was initially sad because she felt like her friend was changing and she was losing her friend. Katie talks with Madeline who reminds Katie that she has been changing while Bethany has been at camp too. Madeline says it’s like the old saying “‘Absence makes the heart grow fungus.’ Distance is hard. People grow apart. They also grow back together. If she’s a good friend, she knows how special you are and that she’s lucky to have you.”
The Mousetress has been starting fires, breaking into businesses, and taking sunglasses from an artist; but each time, innocent animals are being released from secret testing, fighting, and trophy fates.
The big, muscle bound police chief is an animal lover. At the end of the story, he is baby talking to his animal friends that were Mousetress rescues.
The Eastern Screech is the goofy superhero that everyone adores. He catches Mousetress, but is foiled in the end by Katie and the cats.
Ms. Madeline Lang hires Katie for a well paying mystery job. Ms. Lang secretly keeps cats in her apartment, where they are not allowed. While Ms. Lang goes to work, she needs a catsitter. How many cats need catsitting? 217…because 218 would be too many. The cats all have special skills.
When Katie starts catsitting, the cats trash the place, then clean up just before Ms. Lang gets home. The cats keep stealing the couch from the landlady. Katie believes that the cats are pure evil. Eventually, Katie tries to get to know the cats’ names. Katie figures out how to play tricks on the cats, and they develop a good relationship.
Katie and her mom find Madeline/Ms. Lang out protesting the treatment of New York carriage horses.
The Mousetress is caught and put in prison. Katie discovers that Madeline is the Mousetress when the cats let her in on the secret so that Madeline can be saved. Katie puts on a Mousetress costume and leaves with the cats to rescue Madeline. Katie has to alter the cats’ plans to make the rescue work. Turns out most everyone has a soft spot for the Mousetress because she has been rescuing animals. The police chief even helps break out Madeline, but it has to remain a secret.
Mr. B is secretly a billionare. “He says sometimes you do things because it makes you happy. Not because it makes you money.”
As a thank you for rescuing her, Madeline gives Katie the rest of the money that she needs for summer camp. Turns out Madeline also owns the super-fancy vegan eatery, Madeline gives Katie a partial share when she turns eighteen.
Katie decides not to go to camp and convert her savings to a vet school fund.
Katie also gives learning skateboarding a try from a new friend.

Other Books in Series (At Time of Posting):

Katie the Catsitter: Best Friends for Never (Book 2) [review]
Katie the Catsitter: Secrets and Sidekicks (Book 3) [review]
Katie the Catsitter: The Purrfect Plan (Book 4) [review]

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