From the Desk of Zoe Washington meets Ways to Make Sunshine in this ânoteworthyâ (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) middle grade novel about a determined young girl who must rely on her ingenuity and scientific know-how to save her beloved cat.
Twelve-year-old Miraâs summer is looking pretty bleak. Her best friend Thomas just moved a billion and one miles away from Florida to Washington, DC. Her dad is job searching and heâs been super down lately. Her phone screen cracked after a home science experiment gone wrong. And of all people who could have moved into Thomasâs old house down the street, Mira gets stuck with Tamika Smith, her know-it-all nemesis whoâs kept Mira in second place at the school science fair four years running.
Miraâs beloved cat, Sir Fig Newton, has been the most stable thing in her life lately, but now he seems off, too. With her phone gone and no internet over the weekend at her strict Granâs house, Mira must research Figâs symptoms the old-fashioned way: at the library. She determines that he has âthe silent cat killerâ diabetes. A visit to the vet confirms her diagnosis, but that one appointment stretched family funds to the limitâtheyâll never be able to afford cat insulin shots.
When Miraâs parents tell her they may have to give Fig up to people who can afford his treatment, Mira insists she can earn the $2,000 needed within a month. Armed with ingenuity, determination, and one surprising ally, can Mira save her best (four-legged) friend before itâs too late?