Katie the Catsitter

Colleen AF Venable and illustrator Stephanie Yue’s Katie the Catsitter (2021) is a middle-grade graphic novel about growing up, superheroes, and lots of cats. As of 2023, there are two additional volumes published in the series: Katie the Catsitter Book 2: Best Friends for Never (2022) and Katie the Catsitter #3: Secrets and Sidekicks (2023). Katie the Catsitter was critically well-received and has gone on to win multiple state awards.

In this coming-of-age story, Katie tries to earn enough money to attend summer camp with her friends by cat sitting for her upstairs neighbor, Ms. Lang. She quickly learns that it will not be a typical cat sitting job, as Ms. Lang has 217 highly intelligent cats with a propensity for getting into trouble. On top of this, Katie begins to suspect that Ms. Lang might be the notorious supervillain the Mousetress.

This guide refers to the 2021 Random House Graphic edition of the text.

Plot Summary

Katie breaks into her apartment because she has forgotten her keys. Once inside, she discovers there is no food for dinner and heads down to the bodega. While talking to Mr. B, the owner of the bodega, a news report about a fire at a nearby cosmetic factory plays in the background.