Cool Cat

Hey bibliophilic buckaroos!

Guess what’s so unique about this salutation! (No, it’s NOT that it sounds as though it were written by a book-loving cowboy. Guess again.) 

Any guesses? 

Okay, okay, you’re never going to guess, so I’m going to tell you. This salutation can be spelled out entirely with chemical elements on the periodic table! (HeY BiBLiOPHILiC BUCKArOOS!) Pure genius, I know, but although I would love to take credit I have to admit that I owe it all to my eleventh grade chemistry teacher and a wonderful website called Google. Now don’t start thinking, “Geez, Carly is off her rocker.” There IS a method to my madness. Today is Robin Brande new release day! 

For those of you who weren’t at our festival last year, Robin Brande is one of our TBF 2009 authors and she will be back for TBF 2010. I was worried that she would be scared off with our yucky Rochester weather (she’s from Arizona), but apparently we teens cancelled out the freezing rain and wind storms that plagued her last visit to Ra-cha-cha. Last year, Robin sat on our New Author Panel and spoke about her first novel, "Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature." If you haven’t read it, go to your library RIGHT NOW and get it. 

But I’m not going to talk about "Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature" today. Today, I’m giving you a review of "Fat Cat," Robin’s newest novel, which was released on October 13th. I was lucky enough to get my hands on an ARC of "Fat Cat" and I devoured it in one day. 

In "Fat Cat," the main character, Cat, is a science-whiz. (Periodic element salutation! Get it?) Cat is smart, funny, and a great cook, but she’s not skinny and THAT becomes the premise of "Fat Cat." In an attempt to win the science fair, and get in an A in her science class, Cat decides to perform her science experiment on herself. The experiment? To live prehistorically, meaning no car, no technology, and no processed foods. In Cat’s mind, it’s the perfect experiment to explore what modern-day life is doing to our bodies and to get back at Matt, her former best friend who broke her heart. 

As I said, I read this book is one day – it was that good. Anyone can relate to the Cat/Matt storyline, who hasn’t been hurt by a friend at some point in their life? I found the science experiment storyline fascinating, too. With all the new research, documentaries like "Food, Inc.," and books like "The Omnivore’s Dilemma," you can’t help but wonder if we should really be eating what we’re eating. While eating prehistorically may be extreme, we could all take a leaf out of Cat’s book. 

All in all, "Fat Cat" gets five stars out of five from me. So hurry to Barnes and Noble or your local library and get yourself a copy of "Fat Cat." You’re NOT going to want to miss it!

I love knowing what you guys are thinking … leave me comments!