Bad Kitty
Bad Kittyby Michele JaffeOh, Town Library, how I love you right now. You had this book on your limited English book shelves and I have been wondering about it for about a year. But because it was one of your small group of YA English books I was able to borrow it, not spend money and get to read it. And I am so, so happy that I got to read it!(Ok, I thought that Monkey had posted a review of this on her blog, but I don't see it, so maybe she didn't. I know she posted that she bought it. I know I have seen reviews of this somewhere!)This book was nothing like I thought it might be. In a good way. Told from the point of view of Jasmine (Jas) Callihan, this is a delightful, funny mystery about a girl (Jas) who seems to be a magnet for trouble and it all starts when a 3-legged cat jumps on her at the pool while they are on holiday in Vegas. The cat starts a whole domino effect of "incidents" including, ruining wedding cake, a bride falling in a pool, getting arrested, stealing a limo and being kidnapped.Jas stumbles into a murder mystery and with the help of her three friends Polly, Roxy and Tom (who show up in Vegas to help her with her troubles) and her evil cousin Alyson and her best friend Veronique, she does her best to collect forensic evidence and get to the bottom of this mystery.Oh my goodness did this book make me laugh and smile. It was funny, fun and I really liked Jas and all her wacky unintentional shenanigans. One of the best parts of this book was the use of footnotes throughout the story where the characters would have little side-conversations about what was going on. (Did Jack ever see the Kermit panties?) I don't even know how to explain the awesome use of footnotes here, you really have to pick up the book and see for yourself. Now, you might be thinking, Pah! That sounds dumb! But you have to trust me this is a cute and funny book. The proof? I showed parts of it to my husband (who really doesn't go for YA chick lit ;)) and he thought the footnoting (and content of thereof) was funny. He smiled, and not just because I was forcing him to like it. (Heh.) Now he's not going to break down and read the book (he's a MAN, after all) but he will admit freely that it's cute idea and pretty well done. Good enough for me!I also loved Jas' Little Life Lessons that were littered throughout the book (all the way from 1 to 60, folks!). Jas is a girl after my own heart!I am only sorry that my library does not have the second book, Kitty Kitty, on its shelves. It is very possible that they have it on order or something. I am sure it has been requested (though it's not even in their on-line catalogue. Sigh.) so I do not know what I am going to do. I am not about to buy a hard cover. Though if I think about it in the "Well, my niece would like to read this in 10 years" way, I might be able to justify it. Of course I am trying VERY hard to limit the spending right now and I did just have my hair done. ;)All I know is that after reading Bad Kitty I know I need to read the next installment by Michele Jaffe.[Please note that this Bad Kitty is not to be confused with this Bad Kitty, which I reviewed in the Fall. Thank you.]