Cathy's Key: If Found 650-266-8202 [Hardcover]

Jordan Weisman (Author), Sean Stewart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 2008

Cathy’s Book was literally a word-of-mouth success story, with over 120,000 copies of the groundbreaking, interactive teen novel in print. Perhaps less noticeable was the heart of the book: a good story well told. Now fans of Cathy Vickers will return to the exciting, unpredictable world that made the first book such a success. Cathy was your average high school student-doodling in the margins of her journal, crushing on a cute boy, and hanging out with her best friend Emma. As this story begins, she’s trying to keep a job, her journal is stolen, the cute boy is not who he seems to be, and even Emma’s side project/start-up company, Doubletalk Wireless, is about to get caught up in the mystery surrounding Cathy and her search for the truth about her father. Her presumed-dead father. It’s just a simple story really: Girl loves Boy, Boy disappears, Girl discovers secret that will alter the course of humanity....

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Six weeks after high-school graduation, Cathy can’t seem to keep a job, but she excels at Advanced Doodling in this sequel to Cathy’s Book (2007). Her immortal boyfriend, Victor, is off trying to unlock the key to immortality. No job and no boyfriend leave Cathy with the time she so desperately needs to avoid Tsao, yet another immortal who proclaims his undying love for her and won’t take no for an answer; to get her identity back from Jewel, a clever and sneaky girl she met on a bus; to convince Jewel’s ex-convict brother, Denny, not to enlist in the army; to discover if her father really is dead by raiding the office of the drug-happy doctor who signed his death certificate; and to navigate the ups and downs of her friendship with Emma, young business maven extraordinaire. A wonderfully zany voice, loads of doodles, interactive features, and madcap antics that unfold at a breakneck pace—all  contribute to a reading experience that is just plain fun. Grades 8-11. --Holly Koelling

Review

"Booklist," July 1, 2008
"A wonderfully zany voice, loads of doodles, interactive features, and madcap antics that unfold at a breakneck pace--all contribute to a reading experience that is just plain fun."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Running Press Kids (May 6, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762430850
• ISBN-13: 978-0762430857
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #354,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sean Stewart is the author of the innovative I Love Bees and Beast search operas, two short stories, and seven previous novels: Galveston, Mockingbird, The Night Watch, Clouds End, Resurrection Man, Nobody's Son, and Passion Play. His novels have received the Aurora, Arthur Ellis, Sunburst, Canadian Library, and World Fantasy awards. He presently writes lots of things that have Non Disclosure Agreements attached so he cannot talk about them. Stewart is tall, energetic, uses big words easily, coaches his daughter's soccer team, is a great reader, has taught writing, and lives in Davis, CA, with his wife and two daughters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous book series, June 10, 2010

By 

Always cold "nanswa" (Florida/New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cathy's Key: If Found 650-266-8202 (Hardcover)

Perfect for teen girls. My granddaughters have really enjoyed the three book series and the "clues" inside the book makes it unusual and fun.

4.0 out of 5 stars Clearance Table Treasure, February 1, 2010

By 

freshbakedmama "lilian" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cathy's Key: If Found 650-266-8202 (Hardcover)

Ok, well maybe this isn't quite a treasure in the sense that I'll want to read it to my grandkids, but as a writer, I am more than bowled over by this book and the skill at pacing, plotting, and character-sketching displayed by it's author(s). I consider it worth having just for what I can learn from it, but it's also a rollicking good tale. I picked it up off the clearance table at Borders, although it didn't look too promising on the cover, flipped into it and couldn't put it down. I wound up spending seven bucks (this is more significant than those who don't know me might guess) in order to be able to finish the story that day, without having to wait for it to come in at the library.

Others have more than adequately synopsized the plot, so I'll just say that "Cathy's Key" is not only the sort of story that absolutely hurls you from page two to page "The End", it's also well-told. Not great literature, maybe, but great storytelling in the grandest, 'round the fire, tradition. And, underneath the yarn-spinning is another, skillfully unobtrusive layer of story. This other story layer is in the finest tradition of YA lit in that it poses solid questions about what is of worth in life and what values can be counted on to not grow threadbare with time. For those who want to know about such things before they buy for their kids, this book does feature some hard-bitten characters and consequently there are crimes committed, including a murder. I didn't find any of it gratuitous or distastefully overdescribed. There is no graphic description of sex. There is some swearing.

4.0 out of 5 stars And Another Book Read Reviews, August 1, 2009

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And Another Book Read - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cathy's Key: If Found 650-266-8202 (Hardcover)

Cathy is back and she is as curious as ever! It's been six months since Cathy's seen her boyfriend Victor and she is completely clueless as to where their relationship stands. Out of desperation she sets off to St. Louis in order to meet the fortune teller whose name was sent to her months earlier in a mysterious package. After her meeting with the mysterious Auntie Joe, who claims that Cathy's father didn't really die of a heart attack but that he was murdered, Cathy is as confused as ever. On her way home Cathy meets Jewel. Jewel immediately gets on Cathy's bad side when she tries to weasel money out of her. She's even bold enough to take Cathy's diary pages (recounting her last adventure) while Cathy is out buying food. Despite a bitter start, Jewel and Cathy become pseudo friends and spend the long, boring bus ride home talking. That is until Jewel disappears with Cathy's cell phone and diary pages, virtually stealing her identity. This is really the least of Cathy's problems because when she returns to San Francisco she is determined to find out what really happened to her father and also squeeze in time to find a new job. With the help of her best friend Emma, Cathy embarks on an adventure to find out more about her father and she will learn more than she could have ever fathomed!!

This book was undeniably better than the first. It didn't take me any time to get swept up into Cathy's hilarious adventures and mishaps. Cathy became very real in this book and her personality was absolutely brilliant. Her attitude was hands down one of the funniest I've ever come across in a book and I found myself howling aloud in amusement from the words that came out of her mouth. I also felt like the author was really able to pull off the plot in this sequel. In the first book it was a little questionable, but this time it really made the book shine. What's also great about this book is that it's really not necessary to read it's precedent, Cathy's Book, as it completely holds its own and won't confuse the reader. Overall I was highly impressed with this book and was completely shocked into loving it. It is a great summer read, not too long, but long enough to have substance, and I whole heartily recommend it to all!!