** TWICE SHORTLISTED BY THE FESTIVAL OF WRITING **
When 8-year-old Pip finds himself the sole survivor of a global apocalypse, things seem to be looking up.
With his pet cat, Kitten, for company, hours of free time to read his favourite books and an endless supply of snacks from the local supermarket, the end of the world feels like a gift.
But when the lights and central heating stop working, the water stops flowing out of the taps, and hungry dogs begin prowling the streets, Pip has to learn to fight for his survival.
And Pip can’t shake the nagging feeling that something in the shadows is watching him…
BOOK ONE of the PIP AND KITTEN STORY
** TWICE SHORTLISTED BY THE FESTIVAL OF WRITING **
When 8-year-old Pip finds himself the sole survivor of a global apocalypse, things seem to be looking up.
With his pet cat, Kitten, for company, hours of free time to read his favourite books and an endless supply of snacks from the local supermarket, the end of the world feels like a gift.
But when the lights and central heating stop working, the water stops flowing out of the taps, and hungry dogs begin prowling the streets, Pip has to learn to fight for his survival.
And Pip can’t shake the nagging feeling that something in the shadows is watching him…
BOOK ONE of the PIP AND KITTEN STORY
Pip and Kitten were hiding in an ancient, six-foot tall, industrial fridge-freezer that had been rusting in the back garden of the home where they lived with their Aunt Cribbage.
Shielded in their lead-lined hidey-hole, they were totally oblivious to the moment when a technician accidentally dropped a ham sandwich into the Large Hadron Collider, opening a small but glutenous singularity, and starting a chain reaction that swiftly obliterated every human being on the planet.
Animal life, fortunately, was unharmed with the sole exception of pigs, who were also rendered extinct. There is some debate as to whether this is due to the similarities between human and porcine anatomy, or whether the contents of the aforementioned pork-based sandwich played some part in the horrifying development of a world without bacon.
None of these details were known to Pip and Kitten and, in fact, they remained in the fridge-freezer for a further 45 minutes, until the air began to taste like cabbage, and Pip decided that they should venture outside.
Pip, an eight-year old boy, somewhat short for his years, had a crop of unruly blonde hair, sad, brown eyes and a bottom lip that had a tendency to jut outwards when presented with an unhappy situation. Being forced to hide in a rusty fridge-freezer to avoid being whipped with a wet towel by his aunt, for example, had produced a pout of approximately forty per cent. Maximum bottom lip extension was saved for her more serious abuses.
Not that this was a problem Pip was likely to encounter in the near future, given that the atoms that once made up his aunt’s grotesque form were now scattered into the ether, searching for a more useful purpose. Such as coating the outside of an empty tin of spaghetti hoops. Or lying in a puddle of badger urine.
Kitten was a full-grown cat, two and half years old, making her name somewhat out of date. Yet she tolerated it because Pip was always nice to her and fed her scraps of meat under the table when no one was looking. Aunt Cribbage, on the other hand, was intensely despised by Kitten. In fact, so visceral was her hatred of the woman, instead of spitting and hissing at her approach, Kitten pretended to be warm and affectionate in her presence, biding her time until Aunt Cribbage died and she could eat her face.
A pleasure that Kitten would sadly never get to enjoy given that, as we’ve already established, Aunt Cribbage’s face had already been vaporised into a billion, trillion impossibly-small pieces. For a cat of Kitten’s size, that would be less than a single crumb from a single cat biscuit.
Initially, Pip noticed nothing amiss when he prised open the door and Kitten, being a cat, was only concerned about finding something to eat or fight. But they both received their first hint that something was catastrophically, apocalyptically wrong when they registered an eerie, deafening silence.
What I enjoyed above all else in this delightfully cheeky middle-grade novel was the tone. Though the subject matter could have been dark, foreboding, or scary the author approaches the story through a humorous lens. This humorous style was very similar to that of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I noticed some other delightful similarities between the two - very different - novels. Both are humorous and fun. They are both quick reads. Some of the dialogue will catch you off guard with its wittiness. Both feature the main hero and his unique sidekick. For Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the main characters are Arthur and the android Marvin. In Pip and Kitten and the End of the World, the only characters are Pip and his protective cat Kitten. The POV is written from a third-person point of view from that of a narrator. This ultimately makes these two books much funnier. The most obvious similarity between the two sci-fi novels is that the plot centers around the destruction of Earth and/or its inhabitants.
What makes Pip and Kitten and the End of the World unique is that the sole survivor of this global apocalypse is an 8-year-old boy (who has very little understanding of electricity or other everyday necessities/luxuries). Pip has never been to the grocery store himself - let alone built a fire or used a weapon. The stakes are huge for Pip even if he doesn't realize them at first. If he gets hurt, there's no one to drive him to the doctor. There is no doctor! Pip has to teach himself everything needed to survive. He even needs to learn what he needs to survive, which makes this such a great book. I would probably not be as helpless as Pip in this situation, but if the internet wasn't available I'm not sure I'd be able to figure out electricity either. Pip is very relatable in that aspect. He is also caring and conscientious. He is the perfect underdog to rally around. Each time disaster strikes, I was anxious about Pip and whether he was going to make it!
The pacing was excellent in this book. The balance between action and moments of reflection and learning was great. I really appreciated the elevated language and think this characteristic makes the book appealing to all ages. For young readers, they can grow their vocabulary with the seamless use of more challenging vocabulary words. For older readers, the writing style was absorbing and paired with the humorous tone and third-person writing style, a fast and fun read.