ALA Booklist
(Wed Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2017)
Has Bad Kitty gone too far? In the latest installment, S.C.A.M. (The Society of Cat Aptitude Management) forces Kitty to take a remedial cat course, followed by a test, or her cat license will be revoked. Kitty is enraged. The class, taught by Strange Kitty (actually a dog) and a melodramatic mouse, includes classmates Chatty Kitty, Mittens (a chicken in a cat costume), and Uncle Murray (a human). Will Kitty have her license revoked by a tie-wearing chicken who only speaks in multiple-choice questions? As outlined on the final page, the moral of this absurdly humorous story is that education is more about asking questions than having answers. As with previous titles in this series, the story is told using a combination of comic-book panels, speech bubbles, off-page dialogue, and slapstick visual humor. Perhaps the most ridiculous Bad Kitty adventure ever, the plot is convoluted, lacking even a shred of realism. Bad Kitty fans will love the offbeat humor and bizarre situations in Bruel's newest book.
Horn Book
The Society of Cat Aptitude has revoked trouble-making Kitty's cat license, and she must take a test to get it back. After hours of preparation, she's ready...but the proctor is a chicken who's part of a plot to control the world. With its skewering of standardized testing, the absurdist (and occasionally informational, with facts interspersed) graphic narrative is one of the long-running series' stronger episodes.
Kirkus Reviews
(Tue Feb 28 00:00:00 CST 2023)
How good is Bad Kitty at actually being a cat?Bad Kitty loves birds, but when she climbs a tree to play with two of them, it ends in a disastrous fall from the treetops. She rethinks her opinion of birds. The incident triggers a letter from the Society of Cat Aptitude Management; her cat license is being revoked for a series of "shameful un-catlike embarrassments"-such as the time she "woke up suddenly and fell behind the sofa" or when she "tried to jump on the desk but landed in the plants." Not to mention that time the dog sat on her head when she was asleep. According to SCAM, Kitty must take a special class and then pass a test to get her cat license back. Kitty is not amused. The next day, she joins Chatty Kitty, an odd-looking cat named Mittens (a chicken with fake cat ears), and Uncle Murray (who thinks he's in class to renew his driver's license) for a course taught by Strange Kitty. They watch a specious video created by the test makers, TestPro, full of oddball cat facts, before the first of many pretests begins. The final test (administered by a chicken) couldn't be more surprising. Bruel's obvious antiâstandardized-test agenda doesn't tarnish Bad Kitty's appeal in her 10th chapter-book appearance. Standardized-test companies may want to hurl hairballs, but the loopy humor and silly kitty cast will have fans purring with laughter. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-12)