September 5, 2023 by Scholastic Paperbacks
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Princess Beautiful is the most popular social media influencer who's a cat. Millions of followers, viral videos, constant comments-- she has it all. She has even caught the attention of the handsome, rich, and dashing Catrick Cash, and has a date with him. First, she has to film a video of her typing for her social media feed. She doesn't really look at the screen, and a handler is manipulating her paws. In doing so, she manages to set off weapons that almost cause the end of the world! There is a mysterious outline of a red scorpion that seems to be behind all of this. Social media dubs her "the cat of death" and quickly "convict" her of evildoing, followed by an amazingly brief trial that sentences her to jail time in a remote, heavily guarded facility. When she is being transported there in a bus with two guards, the bus hits spikes, the tires blow, and the bus falls off the side of a cliff onto an improbably car dealership on the side of the mountain. Of course, the vehicles there are filled with thousands of gallons of fuel, so everything blows sky high. When she finally hits the ground, miraculously unhurt, Princess Beautiful tries to go into town to create a disguise, but everyone recognizes her. She's been in contact with Catrick, who assures her that he will support her and help her prove her innocence. She hijacks a vehicle and follows a truck with the same scorpion outline that has been haunting her, and takes off on a high speed chase. At the end of the line, she agrees to give herself up to the mouse policeman who is chasing her, but standing on the edge of a ruined road she is hit by a tranquilizer dart and falls over the edge. Is this the end for Princess Beautiful, or will we find out more of her exploits in a second book in the series?
Strengths: My students spend an inordinate amount of time on TikTok videos, even at school, where I thought phones were not supposed to be out. They look at their phones instead of talking to friends at lunch, and during study hall instead of doing homework. I don't understand the appeal, but they also apparently think they can be social media influencers when they grow up and somehow earn money doing it. Princess Beautiful has an entire empire funded by her influencing; an enormous building, staff, and a posh lifestyle where she can ask for a vanilla latte and have it handed to her wherever she is. She even demands that one of her staff leave his wedding to help her out, and he does. Of course, there is a down side to fame, and there is quite a heavy message of how everyone thinks that things that appear on the internet are true. Of course Princess Beautiful is evil because of her typing mishap. Of course she should be put in jail, and chased down when she escapes. Cat of Death is amusing, and skewers the subject of social media fame in a way that even younger readers will enjoy.
Weaknesses: I know this is a cartoon, and so Princess Beautiful survives a fiery crash in the same way that Wile E. Coyote or the Road Runner would, but somehow the top of the mountain with the prison on it crashing into the sea and everyone surviving the crash seemed far fetched!
What I really think: I thought that The Bad Guys was great, and had one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen, with the Bad Guys trying to rescue a kitten from a tree. I don't expect Blabey to hit that level of hilarity every time, but it's always at the back of my mind. This seemed a bit young (Bad Guys certainly is), so I might not purchase it, but if I did, I know a lot of students would check it out.
Strengths: My students spend an inordinate amount of time on TikTok videos, even at school, where I thought phones were not supposed to be out. They look at their phones instead of talking to friends at lunch, and during study hall instead of doing homework. I don't understand the appeal, but they also apparently think they can be social media influencers when they grow up and somehow earn money doing it. Princess Beautiful has an entire empire funded by her influencing; an enormous building, staff, and a posh lifestyle where she can ask for a vanilla latte and have it handed to her wherever she is. She even demands that one of her staff leave his wedding to help her out, and he does. Of course, there is a down side to fame, and there is quite a heavy message of how everyone thinks that things that appear on the internet are true. Of course Princess Beautiful is evil because of her typing mishap. Of course she should be put in jail, and chased down when she escapes. Cat of Death is amusing, and skewers the subject of social media fame in a way that even younger readers will enjoy.
Weaknesses: I know this is a cartoon, and so Princess Beautiful survives a fiery crash in the same way that Wile E. Coyote or the Road Runner would, but somehow the top of the mountain with the prison on it crashing into the sea and everyone surviving the crash seemed far fetched!
What I really think: I thought that The Bad Guys was great, and had one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen, with the Bad Guys trying to rescue a kitten from a tree. I don't expect Blabey to hit that level of hilarity every time, but it's always at the back of my mind. This seemed a bit young (Bad Guys certainly is), so I might not purchase it, but if I did, I know a lot of students would check it out.
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