Fashion Kitty and the B.O.Y.S. Read online

  If you have never heard the story of

  how a regular kitty became a superhero

  kitty, then you will want to read on.

  If you already know the story of

  Fashion Kitty, you might want to read

  on anyway, because stories about

  super powers are usually interesting and

  amazing, and these kinds of stories are

  fun to hear about again and again.

  AND THE

  B.O.Y.S.

  (Ball of Yellow String)

  By Charise Mericle Harper

  Disney • HYPERION BOOKS

  N e w York

  Text and illustrations copyright © 2011 by Charise Mericle Harper

  All rights reserved. Published by Disney • Hyperion Books, an imprint

  of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage

  and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

  For information address Disney • Hyperion Books, 114 Fifth Avenue,

  New York, New York 10011-5690.

  ISBN: 978-1-4231-6434-0

  Visit www.disneyhyperionbooks.com

  This book is dedicated to

  all the boys who read it.

  Are you a boy?

  Are you reading this?

  Then that means you!

  . . . And to the girls:

  XO to you!!!

  How Kiki Kittie Became

  Fashion Kitty

  This is Kiki Kittie.

  Before Kiki Kittie became Fashion Kitty, everything in her life was almost normal. She went to school with her friends, lived with her mother and her father, and tried to be patient with her little sister, Lana.

  mother and

  father kittie

  june

  lana kittie

  Kiki and I

  have been

  friends

  forever.

  I am not

  annoying.

  (kiki’s friend)

  But even though the Kittie family looked like regular and normal kitties on the outside, they were not. They had an important family secret. Secrets are not easy to keep, but the Kittie family knew they could never share their secret, not even with their very best friends. This was because the Kittie family loved their secret, and they did not want anyone to eat her.

  The Kittie family’s secret’s name was Mousie, and she was a mouse.

  This is what Mousie would say if she

  were the pet of a normal cat family.

  This is what Mousie said because she

  was a pet of the Kittie family.

  I’ve got to get out of here.

  I don’t want to be a kitty snack.

  I love the Kittie family.

  They would never eat me because they are vegetarians.

  Just when the Kittie family was getting used to their one furry gray secret, something unusual happened, and they found themselves suddenly having a new and even bigger secret to keep. Surprisingly, the unusual thing happened right on Kiki’s birthday. At the exact moment when Kiki was making a wish and blowing out the candles on her birthday cake, the shelf above her suddenly broke. Crash! A stack of fashion magazines fell right on her head and knocked her to the ground.

  It was a disaster.

  Mother Kittie was frantic, Father Kittie was worried, Lana was splattered with frosting, and Kiki was lying very still on the floor with her eyes closed. Even Mousie was upset.

  Oh, no! Help her!

  Kiki lying on the floor under all

  the fashion magazines.

  A few minutes passed, and then Kiki finally opened her eyes. Of course Mother Kittie was very relieved. “Thank goodness!” she said. But that was because she didn’t know that her sweet normal Kiki Kittie had transformed into the superhero Fashion Kitty. If she had known that, she might have said something different, like, “Oh, my goodness!” instead.

  I think I hear a Fashion Emergency.

  Being a Superhero I s

  Not Always Supergreat

  It’s not always easy to live with a superhero.

  But dinner is ready! How come you always have to leave at mealtime?

  Every time Kiki changes into Fashion Kitty she flies away.

  Sorry! Fashion calls.

  I wish Fashion Kitty would stay and play with me.

  And it’s not always easy to be a superhero.

  Mostly superheroes are liked and appreciated.

  But sometimes they are not.

  A kitty with a lot of negative things to say can sometimes also be a troublemaker. Leon Lambaster the III was definitely bubbling over with trouble.

  It’s really hard to keep it all a secret.

  I love flying.

  It feels great to be in

  the air . . .

  . . . And helping

  other kitties.

  I like that

  part, too.

  Appreciated

  Not appreciated

  Fashion Kitty is great. She once helped a teacher at my school.

  Fashion Kitty is a big phony!!

  I’m not

  into fashion,

  but I like

  her, too.

  She’s not great.

  I heard she has fleas.

  The No-Good Reason

  Why Leon the III

  Didn ’t Like Fashion Kitty

  Leon Lambaster the III was the third Leon in the Lambaster family. Leon’s grandfather was number 1, and Leon’s father was number 2. Leons number 1 and 2 were both scientists and inventors. They used their inventing skills for good, and were quite famous and appreciated around town for their helpful yellow inventions. No one knew why, but yellow inventions were a Lambaster family tradition.

  This yellow

  pen makes me draw faster.

  This yellow sponge makes everything shiny.

  Their special yellow glue fixed my

  Hula-Hoop.

  Unlike Leons number 1 and 2, Leon number 3 was not so much appreciated. He was sneaky, full of mischief, and very often untruthful.

  Like his father and grandfather, Leon the III was full of big ideas, but Leon’s ideas were not about helping other kitties. They were mostly selfish and mean-spirited.

  Are you Leon?

  Not sure she believes him.

  No ma’am, I’m Lester, Leon’s twin brother.

  Well Leon stuffed a smelly sock in my watering hose again.

  Really

  is

  Leon.

  Oh, no! I’m sorry about that.

  I want to make

  a machine that will

  turn the school

  into a giant

  pickle . . .

  . . . Or a special magnet that pulls

  all the candy in

  town right into

  my room.

  . . . Or a giant balloon that pops and drops dead smelly fish on everyone . . .

  “We can’t help you build such terrible things,” said Leon’s father.

  “You should try to be more like your brother, Lester,” said his grandfather.

  This was not what Leon Lambaster the III wanted to hear. Hearing this made him grumpy. In fact, his grumpiness was so great that he refused to help his family with their regular Monday night statue-building project. And even though marshmallow-statue-building was one of his favorite family activities, Leon just growled, stomped his feet, and crossed his arms. It did not help that today was his sister’s turn to choose the statue to
pic.

  What should we build a statue of?

  I know! Fashion Kitty!

  Hmm . . .

  Leon’s

  grandpa,

  Leon

  the I .

  Leon’s

  mom.

  Holding

  the

  ladder.

  Leon’s little sister, who is happy because the Fashion Kitty statue was her idea.

  Leon’s dad, Leon the II .

  Leon’s brother, Lester.

  Leon.

  “No way! Never! You have got to be kidding! Not in a million kitty years!” These were all the things Leon Lambaster the III said when his father asked him to please pass the marshmallows and a pawful of toothpicks.

  Of course Leon was sent directly to his room. But he didn’t care. His room was filled with all sorts of marvelous toys, nifty gadgets, and cool gizmos—it was not a bad place to be.

  But today Leon ignored all his fancy things. Instead he took out a plain pencil and notebook. He was in a perfect mood to plan something nasty. He took a deep breath, and in his most careful handwriting, wrote down three words.

  This was a terrible thing to do, but still, there was one kitty who would have smiled if she had seen it. That kitty was Miss Willow, Leon’s teacher, and that was because never before had Leon taken so much time with his handwriting. And in all his writing life, never before had Leon made such a beautiful

  Building Material

  Supplies

  Directions

  Marshmallows

  Push Down

  Toothpicks

  This was a terrible thing to do, but still, there was one kitty who would have smiled if she had seen it. That kitty was Miss Willow, Leon’s teacher, and that was because never before had Leon taken so much time with his handwriting. And in all his writing life, never before had Leon made such a beautiful S. It was round and swirly in all the right places. It was almost perfect.

  But unfortunately, at that very moment, it was the only good thing about Leon Lambaster the III.

  Grin of

  nastiness.

  Nasty

  thoughts.

  AHA!

  What to do?

  What to do?

  Kiki Kittie

  It was 8:15 on a Tuesday morning and Kiki was hurrying to get ready for school. Every morning she tried on outfit after outfit. It was a lot of work to find the exact right look. A great outfit had to look good and feel good. No matter how long it took, Kiki never gave up until everything was absolutely perfect. She was 100 percent committed to fashion. This drove Mother Kittie a little crazy.

  Okay, time

  for breakfast.

  The colors

  look

  perfect!

  Kiki, I like your outfit.

  In a minute.

  I have to change

  first. Something

  feels wrong.

  Watching Kiki try on so many outfits made Mother Kittie think about the terrible thing that had not so long ago happened at Kiki’s school. And secretly she thought that maybe the terrible thing had not been quite so terrible after all.

  Of course Kiki and her best friend,

  June, would have disagreed.

  Change again?

  Maybe uniforms weren’t such

  a bad idea.

  I’m so glad we

  don’t have uniforms

  anymore.

  I like your outfit, too.

  Kiki, that outfit looks great.

  Me, too!

  Thanks.

  Thanks.

  Kiki and June walked to school together every morning, and on the way, they always picked up their friend Zack. Zack waited for them on his front steps, and lately another kitty had started waiting there, too. This kitty was Lester. Kiki and June liked Lester, and that was because even though he looked just like Leon, Lester was nothing like his nasty twin brother.

  Lester

  Uses words like

  Nice happy thoughts.

  Please. Excuse me. Thank you.

  Insides completely different

  Outsides

  the same

  Leon

  Uses words like

  Thoughts of selfishness.

  Mine!

  Move!

  Give me!

  Lester Lambaster

  Life was not easy for Lester. Even though he was a kitty full of original ideas and interesting thoughts, he hardly ever got to talk about them. Instead he spent a lot of his time saying the same three sentences over and over again. It was very annoying, and very tiring.

  I’ll tell

  Leon that you are upset and angry.

  I’m not Leon!

  I’m Lester.

  I’m sorry that happened, but

  it wasn’t me; it

  was Leon.

  Lester had one big wish.

  Lester had tried changing his

  look, but Leon just copied him

  no matter what he did.

  I wish I looked like me but nothing like Leon.

  Some boys do not care about fashion. These kinds

  of boys were not upset when Mrs. Rumple, the

  school principal, made everyone in the school wear a

  uniform. They were perfectly happy to wear look-alike

  clothing, but that was because even with the same

  clothes on their bodies, their heads were unique and

  different.

  But this was not the same for Lester, and he hated the uniforms.

  Still look different

  Same clothes

  It’s like looking in a mirror.

  I’m more handsome.

  Leon

  Lester

  On the day that Mrs. Rumple changed her mind and said, “No more uniforms,” Lester was as happy as all the girl kitties put together.

  Now I

  can be me

  again!

  He had lots of hopeful thoughts.

  Maybe I won’t always look like Leon now.

  Maybe that will help.

  And he was right. Sometimes it did.

  Wait a minute,

  you’re right! The kitty that took my flowers was

  wearing polka dots.

  I’m sorry,

  but it

  wasn’t me;

  it was Leon.

  The Si x Words

  That Started I t All

  Kiki, June, Zack, and Lester were all walking through the playground. Of course they were talking about Fashion Kitty. June was worried. She was very good at worrying.