Review Detail

The First Cat in Space and the Soup of Doom (The First Cat in Space, 2)

Middle Grade Fiction 1223

Hero's Journey with Cats, Robots, and Babybeard the Pirate

October 09, 2023

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

4.0

After their adventures in The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza, we find our characters in another tizzy. The Moon Queen's soup has been doctored by a self-destructing assassin robot who used a poison that will turn her into glass in 24 hours! Dr. Lollipops is not helpful in finding an antidote, to the queen sets off to reunite with Loz. Loz, who suffered a pivotal yet trivial set back revolving around a cute kitten in his world saving adventures, has been living on the moon, selling glumpfoozels (apples here on Earth). He returns, but the queen is beset by the Bunco Boys and reunites with the ship's computer, who has a harrowing tale of being used by a teenage boy for gaming before he is recycled and manages to come back. In the queen's absence, Bernice takes over and is mean and not helpful. The queen talks to Frank the Glorious, a wizard who tells the group that they must go on a quest to find the antidote. Captain Babybeard gets involved, First Cat labors silently in the background, and the clock ticks down to the queen's eventual doom. Will Loz's knowledge of Earth and moon vocabulary be able to save the day?

Good Points

This was a rollicking, goofy adventure with a lot of side characters with interesting backstories. Even the back cover touts "High-speed chases! Vile fiends! Falling pianos!", and the book certainly delivers. The quest to find the glumpfoozles prepares young readers for the classic fantasy hero's journey whil making sure they are constantly entertained by funny set pieces, like the Bunco Brothers performing a play about a woman accused of murdering her houseplant by not watering it.

I did miss First Cat a bit. He says very little and was easily forgotten for most of the book.

The art reflects the frenetic pace of the book in its thick lines and feeling of movement, witha constantly evolving palette based on where our intrepid cast finds themselves. I did appreciate the ship's computer's tale that was colored in black with green writing and pictures; young readers won't necessarily get the shout out to early Apple IIE graphics, but I appreciated it!

Readers who like graphic novels that explode with silliness, like Angleberger's The Two-Headed Chicken, Blabey's Bad Guys series, or Laser Moose will enjoy this energetic romp for readers who are a bit older than the audience for Barnett's picture books but not quite ready for his Mac B., Spy Kid or Terrible Two series.