Katie the Catsitter

Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2021

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-7

Chapters 8-11

Chapters 12-15

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapters 8-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 8 Summary

The next night, Katie continues to use tricks to control the cats. Knowing that the cats have been stealing Mrs. Piper’s couches, she ties a string from the couch to the on switch of a vacuum cleaner. When the cats move the couch, it turns the vacuum on, startling the cats and scaring them away. As a result, the cats continue to show Katie more respect.

On the news, the Eastern Screech exaggerates a story from his youth only to be called out by his parents. They are interrupted by reports of a robbery that took place the night before where a witness saw a mouse-shaped silhouette on the roof the night of the crime. This time, the victim is Hunter Q. Prescott—a musician, actor, philanthropist, and amateur poet. The report explains that the thieves took a number of things, including his expensive signature sunglasses. As the sunglasses are shown on the TV, Katie notices the exact same pair on a shelf on the wall. The discovery scares Katie. She quickly leaves once Ms. Lang arrives home.

Katie tells Mr. B that Ms. Lang is the Mousetress, but he brushes her off and insists that Ms. Lang is not evil and that the glasses are probably knockoffs. As they talk, another news story breaks. While searching Prescott’s mansion for clues, a trap door hiding several caged dogs was discovered. Further searching revealed that Prescott was running an illegal gambling ring that specialized in dogfighting.

Katie writes to Bethany to catch her up on everything and to relay her suspicion that Ms. Lang is the Mousetress. She mentions that Bethany hasn’t written for a while and asks if everything is okay. Katie does not use any stickers or markers on her letter; it looks very plain compared to the previous ones. After Katie mails the letter, someone at the post office reads it and forwards it to the Eastern Screech.

Chapter 9 Summary

Katie waits for a return letter from Bethany and begins to get upset. She decides to go to The Wax Museum of Justice with her mom—who has a fear of wax museums—hoping to find some information on The Mousetress.

At the museum, the tour guide is enthusiastic about showing everyone around, especially when he gets to the model of Cold Hands, the sidekick of Anvilator. He becomes frustrated when everyone just wants to see the Eastern Screech exhibit. The tour doesn’t visit the supervillain wing of the museum, and Katie sneaks off to see it. The statue of the Mousetress is huge, menacing, and has razor-sharp teeth. It looks nothing like Ms. Lang and Katie is relieved.

Chapter 10 Summary

A new postcard from Bethany arrives and Katie eagerly begins to read it. However, Bethany makes no mention of anything Katie wrote about in her previous card and only talks about Ben, the boy she has a crush on. The postcard is also signed by “Beth,” a name Bethany used to get annoyed by, and contains no stickers.

Katie’s mom tries to cheer her up by surprising her with some extra money she’d been saving to help pay for camp. However, when they go to register, they realize the price has increased to $3,500 a week because they no longer offer the early-bird special rate. Katie puts her collection of postcards in a box and packs them away, and throws out the markers Bethany gave her.

Katie goes up to Ms. Lang’s apartment earlier than usual, hoping the cats will cheer her up. Ms. Lang realizes Katie is upset. She tells Katie her boss has said she doesn’t have to go to work that night, and that the two of them can hang out and watch a movie. As Ms. Lang prepares dinner, Katie asks her if she’s ever had a best friend that suddenly didn’t feel like one. She explains her disappointment and frustration with Bethany’s postcard, and that she isn’t sure she even wants to go to camp anymore because it feels like Bethany is changing. Ms. Lang says that Katie has been changing too, in good ways. If she is a good friend, Bethany will know how special Katie is and they’ll grow back together. Ms. Lang also tells Katie to call her Madeline, like all her friends do.

Later that evening, Katie is on her balcony looking at pictures of Bethany at camp online. Cold Hands lands beside her as he struggles to climb the rooftops, and Katie recognizes him as the tour guide from the museum. She asks him if the statue of the Mousetress is an accurate replica. He tells her it isn’t because no one has ever captured her to know what she looks like. This reignites Katie’s suspicion that Ms. Lang is the Mousetress. She asks her mom if it is possible for someone to be evil and good at the same time, and tells her she doesn’t think the Mousetress is a villain at all.

Chapter 11 Summary

The next day, Katie and her mom go to Pickle Fest. At the park, there is an ongoing protest about the mistreatment of carriage horses in the city. They see Ms. Lang among the protesters and head over to say hello. While in the crowd, Katie meets another girl about her age named Marie. Marie is skateboarding and happy to see another kid at the protest.

Ms. Lang gives an impassioned speech about animal rights. She talks about how animals are intelligent and have always helped humans, and that we need to start treating them the way they treat us. After the speech, Ms. Lang is glad to learn that Katie met Marie, and tells Katie she has a big night at the office later.

Chapters 8-11 Analysis

Venable explores another key theme in the text, Changing Friendships and Growing Apart. Katie and Beth’s friendship deteriorates as both go through changes. At the start of the novel, Bethany is disinterested in boys—much like Katie—but boys increasingly become the only thing she writes about. This coincides with her changing her name to Beth, signaling that she has gone through some significant changes since Katie last saw her.

Katie has also changed significantly. In spending her summer trying to earn money, she has become more resourceful and independent, demonstrated in her ability to handle the unruly cats. More importantly, her exposure to Ms. Lang has made her more responsible and socially aware. This is most evident in her evolving understanding of the Mousetress and morality. At first, Katie refuses to believe that Ms. Lang is the Mousetress; she has bought into the popular idea that the Mousetress, who commits crimes, is a villain. After getting to know Ms. Lang and hearing her speech on animal rights, Katie gains a more nuanced and complex understanding of morality. She recognizes that the Mousetress is targeting people who abuse animals, and that, while blowing up buildings and starting fires is technically illegal, it isn’t inherently immoral when done for a good cause.

The novel suggests that Katie and Bethany’s changing relationship is natural and not one girl’s fault over the other’s. The lack of stickers and glitter on the postcard Katie receives from Bethany is one of the clearest signs that their relationship is shifting. The stickers, colorful designs, and glitter all demonstrate the time and care Bethany put into the postcards; their sudden lack suggests a change in priorities. However, the preceding postcard that Katie sent was equally plain and devoid of the usual drawings and embellishments.

Moreover, Katie is upset because Bethany takes a long time to respond, ignores all her questions about the Mousetress, and only talks about her new crush, Ben. While it is impossible for Katie or Bethany to know this, the reader is privy to the fact that Katie’s postcard was intercepted and never actually arrived. This suggests that sometimes things happen that are simply outside of everyone’s control, and that misunderstandings can arise where neither party is at fault.

Cold Hands is the second superhero introduced in the novel. He reiterates the notion that superheroes are largely useless and fundamentally narcissistic. For example, Cold Hands spends most of the time trying to direct visitors’ attention toward his exhibit and grows frustrated when they are only interested in seeing the Eastern Screech, a fellow narcissist whose parents call him out about lying in the previous chapter. When Katie meets Cold Hands on her balcony, he is inept at climbing the building and lies about his accomplishments, only concerned with appearing to be a successful hero.