When Kittens Go Viral

Darcy Pattison's When Kittens Go Viral is a story for 10 year olds told by a white Persian kitten who has to become a video star to get her dad home.

What happens

Angel is born in the penthouse of Majestic Kennels, in a city called Kittywood. Here the cats make their own videos (a kind inventor gave them a translator, so they're the ones in charge). Her mum and dad were the Golden Ones, the biggest stars KittyTube ever had.

But things have gone badly wrong. MamaGrace was hit by a car last year and can't act any more. DaddyAlbert flew to France for a film part that fell through, and now he's stuck there with no money to come back.

So Angel, her sister PittyPat and her brother Quincy agree to try acting. They're two days old at the time!

Then the Director announces a contest. A cat food company will give a prize to the kitten whose videos get the most views over six weeks. Winning could bring DaddyAlbert home. The trouble is a Siamese called Jazz, whose costumes are amazing and who keeps coming out on top.

Angel tells it all herself, in short chapters, many of them named like TV episodes, and it's very easy to be on her side. She's trying SO hard. She checks the room for hidden cameras before she can relax at night. She'd secretly love to be a fight cat, and the Director just laughs at her.

There's lots of fun along the way. Quincy swallows a spider on camera and it crawls back out again (the watching kittens scream the place down). PittyPat doggy-paddles across a full bath to reach her supper. Angel studies their videos like homework, working out why they're good.

Underneath all the views and scores there's a sweet question too. Can you be friends with the kitten you're trying to beat? Angel and Jazz keep circling round it.

If your reader has ever wondered what it would be like to be famous online, this shows it from the inside. And from a kitten who isn't always sure she likes it.

What to read next

For another story where the cameras arrive and everything changes, try The Boy Who Got Accidentally Famous. Billy Smith is the most ordinary eleven-year-old around until a TV crew turns up to film his school.