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YOUNGER FICTION
Barnett, Mac

The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza

320 pp. | HarperCollins/Tegen | May, 2022 | Trade ISBN 978-0-06-308408-7 $15.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-0-06-308410-0 $10.99
(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Shawn Harris. What began as an online storytelling experiment between Barnett and Harris during COVID-19 has been adapted into a graphic novel. This wacky space opera follows a crew of unlikely heroes on a mission to stop a horde of moon-eating rats. The cybernetically enhanced First Cat, along with a brave moon princess and friendly toenail-clipping robot, travel to the dark side of the moon, where they encounter a bloodthirsty baby pirate, a thieving team of disembodied hands, and a three-headed Rat King. The breakneck, stream-of-consciousness plot can be dizzying but never fails to be entertaining. Barnett's fast-paced dialogue, pleasing non sequiturs, and humorous wordplay ("Oh my Uncle Tony's hot calzoney") are amplified by Harris's impressive illustrations. An invitingly simple thick crayon-like line is employed throughout the comic, from its cartoony imagery to panel borders to lettering. The surprisingly earnest themes of friendship and individual purpose combined with the absurd humor should resonate with this audience.
Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022

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