The cats have overthrown the hoomans! Rolo comes to Earth to find his ancestors, but the giant cats throw him in the pound. He escapes and hides on a circus airship, where he meets Ailey, an odd girl with a troubled past. She offers to help Rolo find his people in the mythical city of Zorx if he helps her run away from Earth. But bounty hunters are on their tail—a black cat and her ape goons. With the help of a fortune-teller elephant and a one-eyed alley cat, Rolo and Ailey must find where in this catopian world they truly belong. A smart, hilarious, and genuinely touching tale of runaways, resilience, and cats.
This delightful, imaginative story by Ness centers on the intergalactic adventures of 13-year-old Rolo, a “juvenile male hooman” headed for Earth from his home planet of Blorx, where he’s been raised as a pet. Accompanied by his quagling, Quiggles, Rolo is desperate to see if hoomans can really live “off-leash” on Earth, as the stories say. However, the pair immediately runs into trouble when they meet catlings—horse-sized cats that make up Blorx’s police force—who arrest Rolo for illegal spacecraft parking and harboring an unlicensed pet. That spells disaster, as Rolo is sent to the pound and Quiggles is scheduled to be euthanized. But a daring escape and a chance encounter with earthling Ailey change their fortunes.Middle-grade readers will embrace Ness’s entertaining world, brought to vivid life by Sofia Komarenko’s lively illustrations, where cats are in charge and humans are subjugated. Rolo and Quiggles meet a slew of colorful characters in their escapades as they find refuge on a flying circus ship, run into magical artifacts that promise them entrance to an underground world called Zorx (where Rolo’s ancestors may be living), and dodge the dangers of bounty hunter Wicks and her gang of apes. Rolo, who expected Earth to welcome him with open arms and point him to his ancestors, quickly learns the universe is a much larger—and more dangerous—place than he ever imagined. He sums up his frustration in pitch-perfect teenage lingo: “Quiggles, Earth sucks.”
Though action-packed and loads of fun, Ness’s follow-up to Rolo the Pet Earthling offers shrewd insights as well, drawn from the inhumane treatment earthlings receive at the hands of the ruling cats. The book’s awareness of pet population practices hits home, but equally important is its message about found families and appreciating what you have, marking this series as one to watch.
Takeaway: Cats rule the universe in this lively intergalactic tale.
Comparable Titles: Nathan Hale’s Apocalypse Taco, Carlie Sorosiak’s Leonard.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A
