Fashion Kitty and the B.O.Y.S. is the fourth volume in Charise Mericle Harper's Fashion Kitty series. While the first three books were graphic novels, told entirely in comic book format, this fourth volume is more of a hybrid between a graphic novel and a chapter book. It took me a chapter or two to adjust to the new format, but after that, I grew to like it.
In this book, Fashion Kitty has a new nemesis, Leon Lambaster III, who comes from a family of inventors. Fueled by his desire to create an identity separate from his twin brother Lester, for whom he is often mistaken, Leon recruits some Fashion Kitty fans to help him track down the fashion superhero and catch her in a trap. The group wears CFK (Catch Fashion Kitty) tee shirts, and their weapon of choice is one of the Lambaster family's many yellow inventions, a Ball of Yellow String (B.O.Y.S.) Kiki Kittie, Fashion Kitty's civilian alter ego, sees the shirts, but doesn't realize until it's too late that the cry for help from the Lambaster household is actually a trap! Lucky for Fashion Kitty, though, she's not the only one brave enough to step up and save the day.
I absolutely love Charise Mericle Harper's writing style. Each of her books has an upbeat and fun-loving attitude, and even her villains, in some way, become sympathetic. These books depict all the excitement and mythology of the superhero genre, but they do so in a non-violent, sweet, and innocent way that is just perfect for elementary school readers.
This volume, in particular, stands out for me, because of the new format. Writing some of the book in prose gives the author the opportunity to shift between points of view, and to describe in more detail the emotions of the characters - both the heroes and the so-called villains. I liked that we got to see the villain's rationale for his behavior, and actually understand some of his feelings, while also rooting for him to see the error of his ways.
I also loved the school assignment that Kiki, Leon, and their classmates are given by their art teacher and librarian, where they design tee shirts based on the books they read. That aspect of the book alone lends itself to a wonderful library program or classroom project, and it reinforces the importance of reading without sounding preachy or heavy-handed.
Finally, I really appreciated the fact that Lester is a boy who likes fashion. I still think these books are more appealing to girls, generally speaking, but it's nice to see that these girl-positive books don't totally discount the boys, or cast them only as bad guys.
Fans of the series won't want to miss this new addition, and newcomers will be eager to go back and see how it all began.