how to break the internet with a cat and a cucumber

There is a cat who became the world’s biggest internet sensation. Princess Beautiful was tricked with a cucumber, and the video of her freaking out went viral. She then made more videos, so she wouldn’t look like an idiot with that first video, and her other videos went even more viral. Princess Beautiful became the star of the internet. And then she accidentally got ahold of the nuclear codes and went on the run.

She got caught though, and was sent to prison, and that’s where we start this story. Someone appears to break her out of her jail cell, and before she knows it, she’s waking up on the island of Bratislava. Princess Beautiful was broken out of jail by a goat named Marv who tells her that he knows she’s innocent. Because he was once accused of something he didn’t do. He could tell that she was a scapegoat too. (It’s just a coincidence that he’s a scapegoat and a goat.)

So Marv makes sure that Princess Beautiful is armed with nunchucks, and she uses the internet to watch videos to teach her how to use them. So she’s ready when they finally go to the missile silo, to try to figure out what’s really going on. But they’re interrupted by the marshal that’s wanting to put Princess Beautiful back in jail as well as by the wealthy media tycoon who is trying to get Princess Beautiful on his side. The video of this gets uploaded live and breaks the internet.

And then things get really crazy.

Cat on the Run in Cucumber Madness! is the second Cat on the Run book, from Aaron Blabey, the same mad genius who brought us the Bad Guys books. It’s whimsical, funny, and whip-smart. There are lots of illustrations that bring the story to life, and the humor has layers, so there are giggles for the adults as well as the kids.

Cat on the Run in Cucumber Madness! is lots of fun for cat lovers of all ages, and it’s the type of book I would have read over and over as a kid. Or as an adult. My one complaint is that it ends on a cliffhanger, so I’ll have to get the next book to find out what happens next. But it’s worth it, even if just for the scene where Princess Beautiful uses her nunchucks. It’s just so clever.

Egalleys for Cat on the Run in Cucumber Madness! were provided by Scholastic through NetGalley, with many thanks, but I liked it so much I bought the Kindle version for myself.