My daughter (age 8) loved this book. She thought it was very funny and it took her only a few hours to read it. It was a cute storyline- all the cats had something special about them she especially liked the cat who could speak Spanish. The pictures were darling and the book was easy to read. It also had a happy ending!

E ARC provided by Netgalley

Katie lives in an apartment building with her mother, who frequently has to work. In order to earn money to join her friend at an expensive summer camp, Katie puts up a flyer advertising her services for many kinds of jobs-- babysitting, plant sitting, carrying groceries, etc. She doesn't have much luck with the jobs, some of which end more disastrously than others. When Ms. Lang sees her interacting with the store cat at a convenience store Katie frequents, she hires Katie to cat sit in the evening until midnight. The catch-- there are over 200 cats. They are all super interested in a variety of things but wreak havoc every night, managing to repair all of the damage to the apartment before Ms. Lang returns home at the stroke of midnight, even if it involves repeatedly stealing couches belonging to the building busy body. The New York City in which Katie lives has a variety of super heroes, including the confusing Owl Guy, but also Mousetress, who is a supervillain. As she spends more time with the cats in Ms. Lang's apartment, Katie starts to suspect that her employer is, in fact, Mousetress. When Mousetress is imprisoned, can Katie find out the real reason behind her arrest, and save the day with the help of the cats?
Strengths: While fantasy graphic novels don't always do well in my library, this book has two things that make it very appealing: colorful illustrations of the Telgemeier/Jamieson school, and CATS. I am always a fan of books that involve tweens trying to make money or follow interests, so I enjoyed watching Katie try her hand at some money making endeavors. I loved that she watched the cats in the evening; I had a babysitting job in the 6th grade that went from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. because the mother was a nurse. The super hero story is very appealing as well, and the mystery about who was good and who was evil will appeal to tweens. Including friend drama always works well in middle grade books.
Weaknesses: Because there are a lot of DC and Marvel comic book characters and I am not too well versed in these, I'm never sure if books are based on these characters or if they are just completely new stories. Primer was a good example of a book I wasn't sure about, although Squirrel Girl, against all odds, is a Marvel character.
What I really think: I will purchase this one, and it looks to be a series.

Bless this book for not exactly being about a tween catsitter. There's nothing wrong with Raina Telgemeier, but I'm a bit maxed out on Telgemeier-alikes right now (see "Allergic" or "Stepping Stones"--both GOOD, but both just...more Telgemeier). Venable's twist delighted me, especially as the framing before the twist (I can't afford to go to camp with my friends, so I'm going to try to get odd jobs in my apartment building to save enough up to join them for a week) was so familiar-sounding (I guess maybe it's simply thoroughly realistic fiction I'm over in graphic novels?) Without giving anything away: great cat names, great cat skills. I'm glad that young readers expecting another realistic graphic novel will be surprised by this as I was, and hope the surprise will be as pleasant for some as it was for me.

Katie the Catsitter is more than just a typical superhero graphic novel. Venable incorporate friendship, mystery, entrepreneurship, and lots of cats, 218 to be exact. In the novel, readers are introduced to Katie, a twelve year old girl living in NYC. All Katie wants is to go to summer camp with her friends, but she can't afford it. She hatches a plan to do odds and end jobs. These do not turn out so well, that is until she starts cat sitting for Ms. Lang.
Readers follow Katie as she develops a relationship with Ms. Lang's 217 cats and discovers what is most important.

Katie believes Ms. Yang may be the city's villain, The Mousetress, but struggles with the idea that Ms. Lang could never be a villain. Katie will soon learn not everything is as it seems.

Not only is this novel fun to read, young girls will connect to the humanness of Katie. Her thought processes match those of a typical preteen. She also desires what we all desire love and friendship. Venable and Yue excellently portray the different personalities of Ms. Lang's cats giving them some super-hero skills. Each cat and human character have their own personality coming through both through speaking and drawn actions.

Overall, this light-hearted, fun, and funny read will be a plus for a library. I would recommend this to graphic novel fans, young reluctant readers, and cat lovers alike.

Katie the Catsitter was a fun read with a kick ass superhero AND main character. Katie lands a job to make money for summer camp watching a neighbor's cats...all 217 of them! She starts to notice some strange commonalities between her neighbor and a local super villain. But those things don't seem to live up with what she knows of her during the day.
Great read!

I felt like this graphic novel was just ok. I liked the idea of the story, but I felt like the storyline had some holes in it. The graphics were great, though. I am mildly curious enough about the series that I would probably read the next one.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

I received an electronic ARC from Random House Children's through NetGalley.
Venable creates a charming main character who has to face real world issues in a superhero city. Katie is old enough to feel the financial differences between her family (Mom and Katie) and her more affluent friends. She offers to perform various jobs for her neighbors with several disastrous results. Finally, her upstairs neighbor hires her to catsit her 217 cats while she works nights. Venable weaves enough humor through these scenes for readers to see the lighter side of Katie's problems. When you add a unique superhero and a supervillain who seems to fight for justice, readers also get to have front row seats to the reality that not everything is black and white. Not only does Katie figure out who the supervillain is, she works together with other characters (218 of them) to free her from prison.
Readers will relate to the friend issues and difficulty in sorting out right and wrong and factoring motives into actions. Highly detailed illustrations support the story.
Looking forward to the next adventure.

Looking for a summer job.... filled with cats and a super hero/villain shenanigans? Well here we are! This fun and quirky adventure follows a girl named Katie who is hoping to raise money to fund her trip to camp. Trying out for all sorts of job she finally lands a gig as a catsitter for her mysterious upstairs neighbor. Heres where things get weird, she’s catsitting around 200 cats and these are definitely not normal cats! Filled with fun mischief and adventure, the story is a great and fun read! Definitely would recommend it for middle grade readers ( especially for any cat lovers out there!). The artwork is adorable and this graphic novel is just a all around great read! I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I was initially sucked in just from the description because it mentioned lots of cats, but I loved this! The surface layer of the story is a superhero/supervillain story, but beyond that it is a story about things that happen when a friendship starts to become distant and fade away. All of us have gone through it at some point, but an often time it does happen is in those transition years between middle school and high school.

It isn't just a story about Katie catsitting and finding out things about the superheroes and villians in her city, it's also somewhat about her figuring out what trajectory her life is going to take and who she's going to spend time with.

I loved so many things about it and have to point out the details and personalities that went into all of the cats. I'm not going to say much more because spoilers, but I adored it! The art also was a shining part of this book, with a muted palette that perfectly suited the mood.

This was such an adorable graphic novel! I adored the art style so much and the plot was not only cute but made some very good points.
I loved Katie and all of the cats so much. I liked like Venable took the time to give so many cats their own personalities and jobs. I adored the cats. I wanted each and every one them! (and I'm a dog person)
Venable not only made a cute graphic novel with kitties they also hit some great plot points touching on things like animal abuse, friendship, and even good and evil but in a way that was easy to understand by younger kids. She also managed to touch on good and evil without turning the city hero into a villain (Annoying and arrogant? yes villian? no) which is something you don't see enough of in most media.
Over all this was a really cute graphic novel with several great messages for adult and kids. The art is so cute and vibrant. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a new take on super heroes or an animal lover or just someone who really enjoys graphic novels. This graphic really does tick all the boxes!

So basically this had me laughing so much! I loved loved loved this graphic novel! It goes without saying the CATS were my fav!

Yikes! I did not actually expect to enjoy this book so much, but I adore it! My initial thoughts are these: Ms. Sistine is kind of not-a-great teacher & I need to know more about Dr. Claw....

Fans of Telgemeier, Chmakova, and Hale are going to flip for this one. I would go so far to say that fans of the DC Superhero Girls will find some parts of this that they love as well. I think it has a very interesting blending of superhero meets real world. Distance forming in a friendship, growing up, possibly evil cats-what's not to love?

For Libraries: Take a chance on this one! It is so cute.

I was not expecting how awesome this comic was. Katie is a normal teen who happens to be good with cats. Her friends are all going to summer camp, but with a single mom and no extra cash, Katie takes up cat sitting for a neighbor to earn her own way to camp. Tables turn hilariously when her neighbor doesn't have just one cat, but 217 cats! Also, there are super villains and heroes battling in Katie's city, as if her summer wasn't already chock full of adventure. Read Katie the Catsitter and enjoy some amazing artwork and a super fun story that we could all use right now! I look forward to more.

<i>The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!</i>

This was such a fun escape read! I was immediately drawn to this book by the cover and title. I don't think you can have enough oft-requested "books like Raina Tegelmeier's, Victoria Jamieson's, etc." This book not only has your typical tween troubles such as changing friendships, it also has cute animals and a superhero element! This graphic novel (the first in a series) would have been PURR-FECT (haha) for me as a kid. (And I still loved it as a grown-up.) It will be a good choice for booktalking at libraries and schools.

This graphic was original, excellently drawn, and so well done! It was cute, it had excellent characters, and all the cats were adorable! I loved it!

Honestly, when I read the description about this book I was a bit skeptical, but it was terrific. I loved our plucky protagonist’s stick-to-it-tiveness and the original plot was refreshing. Being a cat owner myself, some of the panels made me laugh out loud. The illustrations definitely meshed well with the text to create a lively, fast-moving story that made me want more from this eccentric crime fighting group.

I really enjoyed this book! For me, it fell just short of 'love,' but I would highly recommend this graphic novel to kids, tweens, and teens!

Katie is trying to earn enough money to go to summer camp with her best friend, Bethany. The flyers she's put up around her apartment complex offering her services aren't doing so great, until the gorgeous and mysterious Ms. Lang hires Katie to cat-sit every night. Only, Ms. Lang has 217 cats, and each cat seems to have its own unique...interests...One warning was not to let the cats buy anything off of the Internet...Katie has to learn how to manage SO MANY intelligent and active cats while Ms. Lang goes to work each night. Katie begins to suspect that the cats' mysterious matron might be one of the superheroes/villains that run throughout the city at night.

This book was a lot of fun. I don't quite know that this book offers anything that has absolutely never been seen before, but what I really enjoy is that it took certain tropes (smart house animals that know how to work the system, kid earning money for summer camp, etc.) and work them into a book that I would honestly recommend for a wide range of ages. The content is tame enough that I could recommend this book to an 8-or-9-year-old who loves reading Raina Telgemeier's books, but I think that a teenager would also enjoy the plotline.

Cute and delightful kid-lit graphic novel that combines superheroes, animal rights, and so very many cats! I am looking forward to seeing more in this playful and lighthearted series.

I LOVED this adorable graphic novel about a 12-year-old who desperately wants to join her best friend at summer camp but can't afford it. She tries (and fails) to earn money doing odd jobs for her neighbors, before a woman upstairs hires her to look after her 217 cats at night. These cats, however, are odd. Maybe even evil? Katie's struggles with getting the cats to behave (ordering 20 anchovy pizzas online, stealing an old lady's couch, playing with grenades) gave me lots of laughs, and the illustrations of all the animals are absolutely adorable. Eventually, Katie starts to suspect that maybe it's not just the cats who are evil... maybe their owner is a supervillain! But as Katie examines the good deeds of her upstairs neighbor and the so-called supervillain, she begins to realize things aren't so black and white.

I was a huge fan of Kiss Number 8, so I was stoked to see another Colleen AF Venable graphic novel. Katie the Catsitter definitely lived up to my expectations! I will be very excited to recommend this to middle-grade readers come winter, especially to animal lovers and fans of superheroes and heist stories.

<u>Katie the Catsitter</u> is an adorable, sweet, humorous adventure tale filled with lots of heart too. When Katie can't afford go away to summer camp with her best friend, she ends up trying to pick up odd jobs around her apartment building to fund it. Suddenly, she finds herself taking care of her neighbor's very skilled 217! cats. This is geared to be more middle grade, but would be perfectly suitable for 3rd grade and up! I loved that this was a realistic superhero/villain graphic novel with important themes like friendship and animal rights included. I'm always a fan of a graphic novel with a great message/plot AND equally pleasing and enticing illustrations, and <u>Katie the Catsitter</u> delivers! I cannot wait to purchase this for my school library!