My Thoughts On: Cat Girl’s Day Off by Kimberly Pauley

Posted June 8, 2012 by Asheley in Uncategorized / 14 Comments


Cat Girl’s Day Off by Kimberly Pauley
Published by Tu Books
Publish Date: April 1, 2012
334 Pages
Source: NetGalley/Tu Books

Natalie Ng’s little sister is a super-genius with a chameleon-like ability to disappear. Her older sister has three Class A Talents, including being a human lie detector. Her mom has laser vision and has one of the highest IQs ever. Her dad’s Talent is so complex even the Bureau of Extra-Sensory Regulation and Management (BERM) hardly knows what to classify him as.

And Nat? She can talk to cats.

The whole talking-to-cats thing is something she tries very hard to hide, except with her best friends Oscar (a celebrity-addicted gossip hound) and Melly (a wannabe actress). When Oscar shows her a viral Internet video featuring a famous blogger being attacked by her own cat, Nat realizes what’s really going on…and it’s not funny.

(okay, yeah, a frou-frou blogger being taken down by a really angry cat named Tiddlywinks, who also happens to be dyed pink? Pretty hilarious.)

Nat and her friends are catapulted right into the middle of a celebrity kidnapping mystery that takes them through Ferris Bueller’s Chicago and on and off movie sets. Can she keep her reputation intact? Can she keep Oscar and Melly focused long enough to save the day? And, most importantly, can she keep from embarrassing herself in front of Ian?

Find out what happens when the kitty litter hits the fan. –(summary from Goodreads)

Cat Girl’s Day Off by Kimberly Pauley


My Thoughts: Natalie comes from a super-Talented family. Everyone has a Talent! I don’t mean thing like “plays piano well” or “sings well” – I mean things like the ability to levitate, have the highest IQ in the world, or have conversations with cats.

Natalie already feels awkward, but if anyone finds out how lame her Talent is, it’ll be social suicide for her. Her two best friends Oscar and Melly are pretty much the only people that know (besides her family, of course) and they do a great job of keeping her secret.

The trio are beside themselves when the opportunity presents itself to be extras in a movie being shot on location right at their school! Melly already wants to be an actress and Oscar has a crush on the actor playing the leading role, so they convince Nat to join in and she begrudgingly agrees. This decision sets in motion a series of wild and crazy things, all accompanied by scenes with funny talking cats.

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Cat Girl’s Day Off is a funny and quirky book – it’s full of wit and snark and things that make you laugh. The story itself is not entirely just contemporary, although there are certainly YA contemporary themes – certainly the Talents and talking animals give the story a hint of the supernatural. The characters are diverse, which is always awesome, and their social awkwardness is very true-to-life. The Talents and talking cats were pretty funny, and if you are a cat person you’ll likely love the cats – their thoughts, their dialogue, all of it.

While the diversity is awesome (high-fives to Kimberly Pauley and her creative team for the minorities inside the story AND on the cover) I think the best part of the book is that underneath all the humor and talking cats – Natalie has character development. In the beginning of the book, she feels less-than-important because her Talent is something she considers silly while her family, her entire family, can do all of these great and wonderful things that she considers important. By the end of the book, Natalie has come to terms with herself a little bit enough to realize that 1) she’s okay with herself the way she is and 2) her Talent is actually pretty darn special and unique and useful after all.

I recommend Cat Girl’s Day Off for people who are looking for maybe a quick read, something not-too-serious, and certainly funny. It would be a great book to read during the summer.

Cat Girl’s Day Off will appeal to fans of:

YA Contemporary/Supernatural
Talking Cats!
The Movie Industry
Mystery
Diversity in Books & On the Cover!

Cat Girl’s Day Off by Kimberly Pauley
is currently available for purchase.

**I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion and review. I received no compensation for my thoughts. Thank you Tu Books & NetGalley!

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Look for a
Guest Post from Author Kimberly Pauley
& a Giveaway of Cat Girl’s Day Off + SWAG
in the following blog post!


Asheley

About Asheley

Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.

You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.

Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!

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14 responses to “My Thoughts On: Cat Girl’s Day Off by Kimberly Pauley

    • April, this book made me laugh out loud quite a few times. And if your dream includes being lazy and having people provide you with food all the time and carry you around – you're in luck! Because that is what the cat in this story basically did, besides talk. Oh! And he was pink. Funny book!

  1. Suz

    This sounds like a fun summer read! I love that you said is has snark and humor – a great combo! I think it would be cool to be able to speak and understand cats and can't wait to read this book! Thanks for the info!

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