I loved it so much! Cute, witty, funny, and mysterious. Held my attention the whole book. My kids will love it! Clean, no agendas. Discussed topics such as autism, bullies, friendship and family.

3.5 Stars.

This Curiosities is a cute, albiet zany, middle grade standalone novel, with clean content (no profanity or sex) and appropriate for any age. It is genre-defying with threads of magical realism (talking cats), science fiction (aliens and zombies), and adventure (kids trying to save the day.) It feels like a science-centric version The Goonies mashed up with The Warriors book series about wild talking cats,

My Impressions: The overall tone of the book is upbeat and positive, without being scary. The message of the book was that being curious is a good attribute and should be encouraged. I appreciated how scientists and science in general was included and described in the book, and I loved that the main boy character had autism. His sister and friends were considerate to his needs, and it was a great example for readers to see.

I think my kids would enjoy this book, but for me as an adult, it was a little too silly to truly enjoy. I've seen a lot of reviews saying this book is whimsical, but I would use the words zany and silly instead. I tried to land in the middle of what my kids would rate it (4 stars) and I would rate it (3 stars.) I personally had a hard time following the plot of this book, but I think my kids would just enjoy the ride and the silly happenings along the way.

Notes on the audiobook: The audiobook narrator did an excellent job of altering the voices of the humans, and had a pleasant voice. However, I felt like the transitions from the human characters and the talking cats was hard to decipher. It kept confusing me who was talking.

Thank you to Southbound Films and NetGalley for the complementary copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review. My review is my honest opinion and is in no way influenced by the author or publisher.

Book review: 4/5 ⭐️
Genre: middle grade
Themes: nature advocates, zombies, cats
📖 Read if you like: Wonder

Curiosity can kill the cat, so Leo has tried to maintain a life without it. When the neighbourhood cat seer prophesies that an earth shattering event will occur, and only Leo will be able to save the day, his life is thrown asunder.

Now we meet the humans. Siblings Marlow and Zach are children of a space scientist. Well versed in meteorology, these children are curious about absolutely everything. Enamoured with the world around them, and especially the natural world, they are keen observers and fearless investigators.

When an earthquake sets off a chain reaction that leads to a missing teacher on the human side, and an observation of missing birds on the cat side something very curious will happen. With an apocalypse in the making, both human and cat crews will be needed for what comes next. In a story that features a blue alien, zombie inducing spores, real science mixed into the fantastical, a a Shakespeare playing cat I promise there will be something unexpected and curious in this tale for readers of any age.

It has been a while since I have read a middle grade book, but I am once again astounded by the creativity in this genre. The story was outlandish, and yet it was rooted in the real world representing real issues society and the environment face. It was nice to have a neurodivergent main character and a rag tag band of oddballs. While it did change the dynamics between the siblings, it also showed why Zach made a great hero for this story, and why Marlow’s compassion extended far beyond her brother. I like when all the kids are weird, because most kids are just that. It can be cool to be curious and smart and wanting to save the world!

🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Southbound Films for a chance to review this audiobook. I had a riot on this adventure that made me smile and worry at the same time. There were a few surprises and I like that the focus was on an environmental issue. The sections with the kids were faster in narration, but it really made me feel like I was in the room with these excited and anxious children. Overall a very engaging story with wonderful narration by Annalee Scott.

Thank youuu! I am so happy this was an option as Listen Now! I was able to get the ebook as well and I am so excited to listen with my daughter. She has just started her reading journey, and reading this before bed was great. Now I am able to have her reread any time she wants with this amazing audio! Very well read and easy to listen to.

My Rating: 4.5*

Middle grade children adventure books are some I am often drawn to for a light read with low-ish stakes and cute characters. Within this story, we have older sister Marlow and younger brother Zach, each with their own unique personalities and perspectives. Marlow has an online video channel about bees and herbs and the like while Zach is curious about everything and often “experiments” with what cats are curious about with the neighborhood cats, as well as having a great mind for leadership under-pressure. The author does a phenomenal job of addressing Zach’s autism by making it more like his superpower rather than a hindrance. The author also shows how some characters such as other school kids do not understand autism and thus see it as a weakness or see Zach as just “being different”.

Marlow and Zach are sucked into a whirlwind adventure when they are visiting a teacher’s house (pirate ship) with a group of other kids to watch a termite structure collapse. However, an earthquake hits the area around the same time and the teacher runs off to check on the bee hives located in the mountainous terrain. Marlow and Zach also notice the local wildlife is not acting normally, however, the cats of the neighborhood also seem to be on the case, especially Leo who is looking for where the birds have gone since his brother Cowfuzzi seems to be distraught by their absence.

Such a cute story and I was fully invested in the friends who banded together to solve the mystery. Very much a Goonies style mystery with kids on bikes off to save the day.

I've always loved books where something big is happening and the kids in the story figure out what they should be doing. In this case, curiosity is important, but it's also important that the kids in this story have their own unique skills and abilities. Zach, who is autistic, his sister Marlow, and their cat friend Leo take on the forces coming against their town. This is an adventure/science fiction book, which I also found fun. Thanks to NetGalley, I got to listen to the audiobook, and the narrator was well chosen for both the voice and ability to make the story exciting.

I spent a lot of this book working to figure out what genre this book is. I have students who cannot read anything containing magic, so I always want to be prepared to tell them when a book is not a good fit. Despite some chapter names and the beginning chapter, there is no magic in this book. It is firmly science fiction.

Leo, the neighborhood cat, is proud of the fact that he is not curious. As hard as the cat talker (Zach) down the block tries to engage Leo, he does not give in to the temptation of curiosity. But when Leo's brother is distraught because all the birds disappear after an earthquake and landslide, Leo works to figure out what is going on. He joins two children, Zach the cat talker, and middle school sister Marlow in figuring out what is going on in their town.

This was a very enjoyable middle-grade mystery. The cats and kids were all wonderful characters. It kept me guessing throughout. I am ordering a copy for my elementary library, and I think it will work well in any collection aimed at middle-grade readers.

The narrator is excellent, and I enjoyed the cat voices!

Thank you to Net Galley and Southbound Films for the ALC. All opinions are my own.