Raining Cats and Detectives: Book 5 (Guinea PIG, Pet Shop Private Eye) - Softcover

Venable, Colleen AF

Softcover

ISBN 10: 076138541X ISBN 13: 9780761385417

Publisher: Graphic Universe ™, 2012

Synopsis

It's a dark and stormy afternoon when Sasspants, PI(G), leaves Mr. Venezi's pet shop to live with a new owner. Soon there's a mystery afoot back at the shop: the cat from the bookstore next door has disappeared. All the pet shop animals are putting on their detective hats, but their fluffy-but-faraway guinea pig detective can't help them follow the clues! Can Hamisher the hamster solve this cat-napping without Sasspants? He's going to try his furry best not only to crack the case, but to reunite with his best friend and fellow sleuth too.

About this title

About the Author

Colleen AF Venable grew up in the trees of Walden, New York....well, not very high up the trees, since she always got scared, but she did carve her name in a lot of low hanging boughs. Colleen had an older sister, a dog, a cat, a million fish, and an imaginary pet hamster named, yup you guessed it, Hamisher. Why have an imaginary friend when you can have an imaginary friend that can fit in your pocket! Colleen went to Wagner College and double majored in English and Studio Art, winning the award of "biggest dork" (aka first in her class) and writing plays which went on to be produced Off-Off-Broadway. Her whole life she always loved reading comics―Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side, and she wore out her copy of the Muppets: Short, Green and Handsome―but it wasn't until she started to get into webcomics that she also fell in love with the idea of writing comics. Now Colleen lives in New York City and her day job is designing graphic novels for First Second Books while her night job is writing graphic novels about a not-so-imaginary-anymore hyperactive hamster named Hamisher. She thinks the world is a very lovely place.

Stephanie Yue grew up in the United States, China, and Hong Kong, and went to New York to study illustration. Currently, she lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and spends her days drawing, practicing kung fu, and making stuff.

Review

"In the fifth volume of the Guinea PIG, Pet Shop Private Eye series, a real detective actually buys Sasspants, which leaves Hamisher the hamster alone without his best friend. Meanwhile, Tummytickles, the bookstore cat, disappears, and all of the animals in the pet store decide to be detectives and solve the mystery. Young mystery readers will enjoy the story, fans of the series will love the animals' antics and the story's ending, and adults reading to younger kids will enjoy the humor. Yue's colorful art will draw giggles from young readers when they see all the animals, even the goldfish, donning detective hats." --Booklist

(Journal)

Detective Sasspants returns! But this time, she has competition.

Guinea pig Sasspants, her faithful, exuberantly enthusiastic sidekick, Hamisher the hamster, and all the denizens of Mr. Venezi's Pets & Stuff are still in the store. Despite assistant salesperson Viola's best efforts, Mr.Venezi still can't get the correct species names on the animals' cages. All the animals are friends, so most are content to stay in the shop. Then (human) Detective Pickles arrives and adopts Sasspants, so when Tummytickles, the bookstore cat next door, vanishes, there's no one to find him. Suddenly, everyone from the goldfish (all named Steve) to the snooty chinchillas are donning detective hats and... well, calling themselves detectives. Will Sasspants return to save the day, or can Hamisher detect on his own? Venables's fifth Pet Shop Private Eye graphic adventure for the chapter-book crowd is as sly, sarcastic and silly as its predecessors. Yue's expressive, dot-eyed creatures in bright hues and cinematic panels are still perfect at bringing the tales to life and adding an extra dimension of character and humor. Readers of the previous four titles will get a few more laughs than those new to the series, but this can stand alone.

Sass and Hamisher hint that they may be getting out of the detecting business given the end...let's hope NOT! (Graphic mystery. 7-11) --Kirkus Reviews

(Journal)

Edition details

• Publisher: Graphic Universe ™
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 076138541X
• ISBN 13: 9780761385417
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 48
• Illustrator: Yue Stephanie