The First Cat in Space and the Soup of Doom

School Library Journal

Gr 3-5-A failed set of assassination attempts on the Moon Queen-first by serving her poisoned soup, then by a knife attack carried out by an assassin disguised as a chef-send her and her close friend First Cat on a mission to find an antidote and determine who was behind it all. After an unsuccessful attempt to reconnect with their long-missing friend LOZ 4000, the toenail clipping robot, Moon Queen and First Cat pay a visit to a wizard who reveals the Moon Queen only has 24 hours from the time she tasted the soup to find the antidote before the poison turns her to glass. With 19 hours remaining, Moon Queen and First Cat set out to obtain the antidote, and chaos ensues. In a return to form for this sequel, now entirely set on the moon, many of the features of book one are present once again: artwork that has a simple but sophisticated style in its textured, retro-hued pastel chalk appearance with heavy black line work, variable and angular panels that denote action, footnotes that provide links to real world recordings of music referenced in the story, self-referential jokes that break the fourth wall, and humorously absurd plot twists and red herrings to keep readers on their toes. VERDICT Though not as strong a showing as the first book in terms of laugh-out-loud moments, this sequel still has much to enjoy, and fans will be thrilled to see their favorite characters back in action.-Alea Perezα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.