Kitty Kitty, by Michele Jaffe

Bibliographic Information:
Jaffe, Michele. Kitty Kitty. Harperteen, 2008. ISBN-10: 0060781114

Book Awards:
None.


Plot Summary:
Jasmine's father (a.k.a. Dadzilla) has moved them all to Venice, Italy at the beginning of Jas's senior year of high school. Missing her friends and her new boyfriend, she glumly attends Italian classes and hopes she will be allowed to visit L.A. soon. Jas appears to be a trouble magnet, however (hence the move to Italy), and her new friend Arabella drags her headlong into a murder mystery. When her friends from L.A. plus a hated cousin show up to help, life gets very interesting. In between fashion emergencies, agonizing over the possible activities of her boyfriend, dodging Dadzilla, fending off an amorous gondolier, and trying to avoid her odious cousin, Jas must solve a murder involving a billionaire, a locked room, a sociopathic house, and possibly a mime.

Critical Evaluation:
Jas is an engaging character: full of spunk and quirks, with the right amount of the insecurities of youth. The use of the first person allows the author to tell the story using Jas's own teenage verbage and thoughts. The story is fast-paced, and doesn't delve too deeply into anyone's character. Jas's father is an enigmatic character, and Jas's contortions to try to be good help to set up the crazy situations. The book is meant to be funny, and even though it is a bit heavy-handed at times, it is always clever, and sometimes laugh-out-loud hilarious.

Reader's Annotation:
Jas's father drags her to Venice, Italy to stay out of trouble. Naturally, she immediately makes the acquaintance of a paranoid crazy girl, gets involved in a murder investigation, incurs the wrath of the local police, and terrifies her L.A. friends into flying over to help.

About the Author:
Michele Jaffe was born in California in 1970, and has a Ph.D. from Harvard in comparative literature. She lives in Las Vegas, and is best friends with YA author Meg Cabot.

Genre:
Mystery, humor

Curriculum Ties:
None.

Booktalking Ideas:
-Jas is a normal girl, likes fashion, texting, her boyfriend, her friends, wants more freedom from her dad, etc. Why does she attract murder mysteries? Even after her dad moved her to Italy to get away from all the things she likes?

Interest Age:
12+

Challenge Issues:
None

Reason Included:
The YA librarian recommended this as wildly popular.