Customer Reviews

Cathy's Key: If Found 650-266-8202

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

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.

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!!

Six month ago, Cathy found out her boyfriend, Victor is an immortal. Now he has to work for Ancestor Lu, or Cathy will be killed. Her boyfriend'sfather Tsao is stalking her and keeps threatening her. That if she doesn't marry him, something will happen. Also, a few days ago, Jewel stole her idenity. Jewel is also hanging around Tsao, and that might cause her to die. Jewel's Brother Denny, is looking for his sister. All Cathy knows is that she needs to fix everything quickly.
Cathy is a very original character. Sometimes, she annoys me with her whining at times. About how everything , is affter her. Victor is also annoying at times, but most of the time, he is cool. I like Jewel and Denny. They were realistic and funny. The plot was pretty good. It wasn't predictable by any means. It was a very original book. I love the drawings and the packet of items relating to the story. It was a really cool effect to have as a reader, the writing could have been better, but I liked it. It was very fun and witty to read. This is a great book for those that don't read much.

I really liked CATHY'S KEY, much more so than CATHY'S BOOK. It takes place six months after Cathy found out that her boyfriend is immortal.

He is gone from her life, she has graduated from high school, and she is trying to find a job. She keeps being fired from her places of employment, which is a running gag in the story. She is now on a bus heading home from St. Louis. She has just seen a psychic immortal who told her to be wary of Tsao and a bomb about her dead father. She told her that her father had probably been murdered.

On the bus, Cathy meets a girl named Jewel. Jewel, through a series of adventures, manages to steal Cathy's identity. When Cathy gets home, she spends the rest of the story discovering facts about her father and her boyfriend, Victor. She actually grows up and learns that what is on the surface is probably not all that is happening, and you need to dig deep down to discover what is true.

I enjoyed this book and love to read a journal where the author is an artist. It helps clarify the story and is fun to read. But I didn't need the "extras" that CATHY'S KEY contains. I looked at them but really didn't need them. I do recommend the reading of this book, though! It is a fun summer story.

Reviewed by: Marta Morrison

Cathy Vickers's elusive and strange boyfriend Victor (he just happens to be immortal, and when he says "forever," it is indeed a long time) wants to make her life easier because things have gotten stranger than ever. An elusive look-alike girl named Jewel has made off with Cathy's sketchbook and cell phone. Jewel's brother, Denny, has somehow attached himself to her and decided that he will be her protector (are there other motives?), her best friend Emma and Emma's father are mad at her, plus she has become the obsession of one of the most powerful immortals --- none other than Victor's dangerous father, Tsao.

As those who have read CATHY'S BOOK well know, Cathy has a propensity for getting into trouble and taking lots of risks. In this sequel, she is once again out on the limb.

Cathy has many issues to deal with as she tries to keep a job (not successful) and figure out if she and Victor actually have a chance together. She is also beginning to doubt that her father is really dead; trying to track down the thieving Jewel; working on solving a murder mystery that deeply impacts her since she might be a prime suspect; working with Emma on starting a website (complicated by Emma's anger at her); and surprised every other minute by unexpected and mostly unwanted encounters.

Cathy tells her story through her journal, sprinkling it generously with clever pencil drawings, little notes and important links. You can turn the book upside down or all around and find constant trails of messages, hints, creepy bugs, artsy splashes and portraits as she goes from one wild encounter to the next.

Readers are again presented with fun opportunities for interaction with the characters in this multi-layered book. From Jewel's sweet drawl when you call Cathy's cell (remember, Jewel has taken her phone) to the websites (including opportunities to submit your own art work to Cathy's art gallery), to the blogs on MySpace, to the package of evidence, and on and on, readers are full participants in this ever-shifting, intriguing story. There are many hands-on puzzles to solve and feedback to give, plus the mysterious connection of the gift from Victor, a Chinese coin necklace.

Could this be the real key to answering some of the questions that haunt Cathy? Thank goodness book three is on its way!

--- Reviewed by Sally M. Tibbetts

This book really left me wanting more. It's written in a fun, original style, and playing detective is probably the best part.

This book was awesome! I love this series. It's so interactive with the papers and numbers. The story's really good too and the characters are really likeable (except Jewel). I would definitely recommend this series to anyone.

I love this book, beacause people who don't even like to read will, read it too... its interactive( go on call the numbers you know you want to!!)