REVIEW: Take It Away, Tommy! A Breaking Cat News Adventure by Georgia Dunn

JayneA- Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended ReadsBreaking Cat News / cartoons / cats / Humor / news / reporter3 Comments

Tonight’s top story: the intrepid team of feline reporters is back on the beat and tackling stories like a runaway toy mouse in this third collection of Breaking Cat News comics for middle-grade readers.

Once again Lupin, Elvis, and Puck—alongside boisterous field correspondents like Tommy—deliver hard-hitting reportage on all of the most pressing issues, such as Vacuum Awareness Week, the case of the missing breakfast, and the history of fuzzy blankets. The gang also meets new characters like Burt, the free-spirited barn cat who helps solve some AV problems. And these cats will need all of the help they can get to get to the bottom of some mysterious ghost sightings and prove they’re not scaredy.

The More-to-Explore section includes paper dolls, how to make pet rock cats, and explores the Big Pink House and the BCN apartment within.

Review

The blurb might say these books are for middle grade readers but I have been a fanatical fan and loyal daily reader of the strip since stumbling upon it when I got a chance to review the first book “Breaking Cat News” four years ago. Since then, the strip has gone into syndication and creator Georgia Dunn has been gradually reworking some of the older material for the new format. However, some of the story arcs just weren’t going to work as well. This book has some fan favorites such as the long requested “Ghost Cat in the Big Pink House” and the original Pucky’s Perfect Christmas Tips that introduced the four incorrigible Robber Mice. Then there is the beloved “Our IX Lives” cat soap opera (brought to you by Yummy Nom Nom Kitty Treats) complete with heroic and roguish Kit Chase trying to win the paw of the rich Angora Taggart (cue DRAMATIC MUSIC). Puck has been addicted for a long time but Elvis is only slowly beginning to watch it. The Ceiling Cats as well as cat-about-town reporter Tommy in his trademark Hawaiian shirt plus his friend artist Sophie (who works in mixed modern media style with “found objects”) and AV cat Burt are all there, too. Dive into the world from the cats’ point of view but for best understanding, starting back at the beginning is probably best. A-

~Jayne   

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Jayne

Another long time reader who read romance novels in her teens, then took a long break before started back again about 25 years ago. She enjoys historical romance/fiction best, likes contemporaries, action- adventure and mysteries, will read suspense if there's no TSTL characters and is currently reading more fantasy and SciFi.

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