9780241760017

SOME FRIENDS ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD!

RISE OF THE CAT

‘An actionpacked page-turner with heart!’

DAVauthorPILKEY, of DOG MAN

BY JUDD WINICK

“Fast paced, FURIOUSLY FUNNY, and will have kids waiting on the edge of their seats for more.”

Jeffrey Brown, JEDI ACADEMY

“Hilo is a robot but nobody can know. I think this book is GREAT for kids my age.”

—Ben R., age 9, New York

“Hilo is delightful, SILLY, tender, and most importantly: FUNNY.”

—Jeff Smith, author of the BONE series

★ “ UNIVERSALLY APPEALING . . . A wholeheartedly WEIRD and WONDERFUL tale of friendship, acceptance, and robots.”

Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ “A MUST-HAVE .” School Library Journal, starred review

“Hilo is robotically AWESOME!”

—Charlie B., age 8, Armonk, N.Y.

“GINA IS SO AWESOME. She’s not afraid of anything and really cares about her friend! Mom, can I have my book back?!”

—Kyla G., age 10, Providence “A PERFECT BOOK for any kid who ever needed a friend and then had one with superpowers fall from space.” —Seth Meyers , actor and comedian

“Hilo offers as much GENUINE PLEASURE TO READ as any book being produced today.”

—Comicswaitingroom.com

“My favorite part is when Hilo travels through galaxies. If I had to describe it in three words, I’d say it’s ‘SUCH A BLAST!’ D.J. is my favorite because he’s a really good friend!”

—Matt A., age 10, Bloomfield, N.J.

“GINA WAS MY FAVORITE character because she’s into science and soccer like me! I also liked D.J.’s family because it looks like mine!”

—Kiran M., age 7, Carlsbad, Calif.

“ HIGH ENERGY and HILARIOUS!”

—Gene Luen Yang , winner of the Printz Award

“My students are obsessed with this series. OBSESSED!”

—Colby Sharp, teacher, blogger, and co-founder of the Nerdy Book Club

“Anyone who loves to laugh should read Hilo. It is ACTION-PACKED with a robotic touch.”

—Breslin S., age 10, Jackson, Mich.

“Hilo is loads of SLAPSTICK FUN!”

—Dan Santat, winner of the Caldecott Medal

“I love the Hilo books. Thank you so much! I really, REALLY LOVE the Hilo books.”

—Angel O., age 10, Brooklyn

“Hilo is really cool and funny. It’s FUNNY that he likes mangoes. You should read it because it’s actually just REALLY FUNNY!”

—Gerard A., age 8, Bloomfield, N.J.

“ FANTASTIC. EVERY SINGLE THING ABOUT THIS . . . IS TERRIFIC.”

—Boingboing.net

READ ALL THE BOOKS!

HILO #1 THE BOY WHO CRASHED TO EARTH

HILO #2 SAVING THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD

HILO #3 THE GREAT BIG BOOM

HILO #4 WAKING THE MONSTERS

HILO #5 THEN EVERYTHING WENT WRONG

HILO #6 ALL THE PIECES FIT

HILO #7 GINA THE GIRL WHO BROKE THE WORLD

HILO #8 GINA AND THE BIG SECRET

HILO #9 GINA AND THE LAST CITY ON EARTH

HILO #10 RISE OF THE CAT

RISE OF THE CAT

by judd winick

UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia India | New Zealand | South Africa

Puffin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.

www.penguin.co.uk

www.puffin.co.uk

www.ladybird.co.uk

First published in the USA by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York, 2024

First published in Great Britain by Puffin Books, 2025 001

Copyright © Judd Winick, 2024

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Penguin Random House values and supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes freedom of expression and supports a vibrant culture. Thank you for purchasing an authorized edition of this book and for respecting intellectual property laws by not reproducing, scanning or distributing any part of it by any means without permission. You are supporting authors and enabling Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for everyone. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems. In accordance with Article 4(3) of the DSM Directive 2019/790, Penguin Random House expressly reserves this work from the text and data mining exception.

Book design by Juliet Goodman Printed and bound in China

The authorized representative in the EEA is Penguin Random House Ireland, Morrison Chambers, 32 Nassau Street, Dublin D02 YH68

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978–0–241–76001–7

All correspondence to: Puffin Books

Penguin Random House Children’s One Embassy Gardens, 8 Viaduct Gardens, London SW11 7BW

my name is polLandra pack walLace brimdale korimako. but everyone calLs me polLy. hazZah.

I have a pretTy exciting life. not toO odD or weird. it’s just exciting.

hot lava! hot lava!!

I know it’s hot lava, ya mad squeaking bedbug!

this is my weE brother philLip ignatius sebastian korimako. but everyone calLs him pip.

I love him dearly. and he loves me.

don’t bark at me, you festering bob nobBle! this is alL your fault!

that’s a filthy lie, you weE pestering gerbil snot!

the chicken is my fault! the mad ocean of hot lava is your fault! fair enough.

oi! blast her one!

I can’t! my stafF is on fire!

aye. just a bit.

1 CHAPTER

THE BEST

the vilLage of the furback clan. threE weeks earlier.

the planet of oshun. a world of magic.

the furback clan.

one of the largest and most skilLed magical tribes in the entire world.

so, polLandra. polLy. excuse me?

everyone calLs me polLy. no one calLs me polLandra except my nan. or my parents when they’re anNoyed with me. polLandra.

sorRy, da.

the korimako family.

this whole clambake is a crock.

hush.

but it is. it is. but hush.

furback clan council of magic. these folks are the leaders of the tribe. and this is a magical disciplinary hearing. a certain cat is in alL kinds of trouble. you’re an apPrentice sorcerer third clasS. second clasS.

realLy? that is impresSive. you’re quite young to be as high as second clasS.

from the day I was born, realLy.

oh, welL, thank you. but I’ve always *ahem* beEn at the top.

it’s a girl!

she’s got some lungs on her! do you ever remember a kitTen this loud? what?!

I seE. you have quite the ilLustrious and impresSive magical academic careEr. welL, you know what they say, “if it’s true, it ain’t bragGing.” youngest student ever admitTed to spelL cast academy. aye!

and you were later expelLed. oh, just for a litTle while.

you fought a mucus goblin.

welL, yeah! wasn’t gonNa let a mucus goblin go runNin’ around.

I wouldn’t calL it a batTle. fire monkeys aren’t alL that impresSive.

it was only runNing around because you set it freE.

welL, I wanted to get a closer loOk at it. curious cat and alL.

you were later suspended for batTling a herd of fire monkeys.

you caused the demon treE forest to implode. that was mostly their fault. mostly.