Faith and the Rocket Cat - Hardcover

Jennings, Patrick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0590110047 ISBN 13: 9780590110044

Publisher: Scholastic, 1998

Synopsis

Complemented by a glossary, the illustrated sequel to Faith and the Electric Dogs, a 1996 Booklist Editors' Choice, sends the luminous canine, Edison, on an adventure that reveals the truth about cats and dogs.

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Reviews

Grade 3-5-Edison the "electric" dog (a play on the Spanish term for mixed breed) narrates this story about his owner Faith's family's move from Mexico to San Francisco. In an attempt to impress others, both the girl and her pet lure unsuspecting and unbelieving passengers into their rocket, the Peahen, which runs on pig fat and jalape?os. Unbeknownst to the flight crew, Edison's guest, a snooty whippet he met on the plane from Mexico, eats most of the fuel pre-takeoff, causing the craft to crash land in Death Valley. Luckily, it does so near the Lulu, an older vehicle that mysteriously disappeared, apparently commandeered by Faith's deceased father's cat after the man passed away. In the old rocket, there is enough fuel (olives and garlic) to get everyone back to San Francisco, but only after fighting off a pack of coyotes. The abrupt ending gives the impression that the author himself is anxious to get the meagerly plotted story over with. Too many things in the story rely on or refer to Faith and the Electric Dogs (Scholastic, 1996) for this one to stand alone, and the magical elements are not convincing here. Edison's narrative tone tends to be just a little too knowing to appeal to the intended audience. Also, he constantly uses terms in Spanish, Bowwow, and a few other languages that are annoyingly defined in the margins. This offering will only be worthwhile for serious fans of the first book.
Carrie Schadle, New York Public Library
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 4^-6. In this sequel to the rollicking Faith and the Electric Dog (1996), Faith and her dog, Eddie, pack up their rocket, the Peahen, and move with the family from Mexico City to San Francisco. Jennings does a fine job of recapping the first book without boring readers and reintroducing Eddie, the electric dog (a Mexican expression meaning mutt), with his talent for reading and writing in several languages. By moving the action to California, Jennings gives himself an opportunity to skewer modern American educational techniques ("I like the way you're using your words") and also to celebrate the multiple languages and ethnic groups. Like the earlier book, this one is smaller than usual and square in shape, with the translated foreign words--this time not only from "Bowwow," Spanish, and "Arf" but also from French, Chinese, Italian, and "Mew" --appearing in the margins. Of course, Faith and Eddie take a rocket trip, accompanied by purebred whippet Daphne, Faith's disapproving mother, and school enemy Alex, this time landing in the desert with a sly coyote. An abundance of characters makes the story a little hard to follow, but Eddie's dry, funny narration and Faith's warm heart make it worth the effort. Susan Dove Lempke

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0590110047
• ISBN 13: 9780590110044
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 232