How To Capture An Invisible Cat by Paul Tobin is a lot of fun to read. It’s a book for middle school kids, but can be enjoyed by all readers who enjoy reading wacky kids adventure.

The story is full of action, absurdity, science fiction and an unlikely friendship between a nerdy boy and a very sensible girl in sixth grade.

Nate is a genius, but shy and socially awkward. He has a talking dog and Nate is constantly making weird inventions and every Friday the thirteenth, he does three very crazy things to amuse himself. So on this particular Friday he teaches a caterpillar to read, mails a love letter and conducts an experiment on his cat, Proton, to make it super-sized and then invisible. Nate, then deconstructed the formula that would change Proton back to normal and puts sections of it on seven different people or things.

But in the meantime, things get out of control as Proton escapes and the whole town is in danger of being destroyed by this invisible gigantic cat! Nate turns to his friend Delphine to help him collect the parts of the formula, capture the invisible cat and change it back before it does more damage. The plot gets thicker with the arrival of the Red Death Tea Society, a gang of international villains, on their heels. The villains are as crazy as our hero. They are very mean and deliver tea as a warning to those who cross them! So now Nate and Delphine need to accomplish their mission fast while trying to dodge the tea guys.

Delphine is the narrator of the story so we get to see the action from her down-to-earth point of view, which makes the madcap action seem crazier.

How To Capture An Invisible Cat should make even those kids who don’t like reading, enjoy the book and want to read more.

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 22nd, 2016