When Kat's dad gets a job as a science teacher at a posh private school, things seem perfect--that is, until her rich, popular classmates shove her to the bottom of the social heap just for being smart. And bad turns to worse when an anonymous student blackmails Kat's dad to give the class better grades! Can Kat and her new friend, a rebellious computer nerd named Mouse, find the real culprits before Kat's dad loses his job?

Kat Foster:
Smart and proud of it, Kat refuses to be thrown to the bottom of the heap at prestigious Durham Academy simply because she is a teacher's daughter. Great at science.

Mouse Huang:
Loves computers and wants to be a jet pilot when she grows up. A trendy if slightly geeky New York girl transplanted to rural New Hampshire and not coping well. Her black clothes stand out among the preppiness of the other students.

Nick Tarkington III:
Cutest guy in the seventh grade, and great at all sports. He's the captain of all the cool teams—soccer, track, lacrosse. Pretends to be dumb but is actually pulling all As. Has a very poor home life, though—parents hate each other and are never around.

The Chloettes:
The clique engineered to make Kat and Mouse's existence hell. Chloe is the richest, most beautiful girl in school—not to mention the girlfriend of Kat's crush, Nick. Mimi is rotten to the core—petite and doll-like, her nickname behind her back is "The Poison Dwarf." And Ruth is just a cowardly bully: in other words, an insecure hanger-on with no mind of her own.

Peter:
Kind of dumb—he's been held back a year, so he's a little older than the rest. Peter makes up for this fact by bullying others and being generally nasty.

Mr. Foster (Kat's dad):
A middle school science teacher. Quite brilliant, very moral, but somewhat absent-minded. Always doing experiments at home, in his lab in the garage. Originally from the Midwest—suburban Chicago.

Mrs. Foster (Kat's mom):
Originally from Burlington, Vermont. Has promised her family that New England will be wonderful, and gets very defensive when it isn't. A little hippy-ish. Works in an antiquarian bookstore. Loves Kat dearly, but pushes her a bit too hard.

Alex de Campi:
Alex de Campi is a filmmaker and comics writer whose diverse body of work includes the highly acclaimed graphic novel Smoke. She has two children's graphic novel series coming out this year in France, and also writes for European kids' TV. Her latest children's project, Agent Boo, marks the debut of an innovative new format called Manga Chapters. It chronicles the adventures of a little girl and her talking cat, charged with defending the very fabric of space and time, armed with only...an egg timer.

Federica Manfredi:
Federica Manfredi has been creating comics since she was 10 years old. Her publications include the Devil's Due's Hack/Slash, Marvel Comics' Vampire by Night, and Italian comics Magenta, Arcana Mater and Mambo Italiano. When not drawing, Federica enjoys rollerblading, snowboarding and other dangerous sports.

Sometimes the smart girls finish first!

Alex de Campi originally pitched Kat & Mouse as a fun, modern-day Nancy Drew-type story featuring smart, adventurous heroines squaring off against the jerky rich kids at their prep school. The pitch was set, the characters were cute and the story seemed solid...but something was missing.

Then the president of Harvard University made a speech blaming the low percentage of women in science on an innate lack of ability in math and logic skills. And with that, Kat had found her edge.

I can't remember anyone in grade school who liked to memorize stuff from a textbook...but I can't think of a single boy or girl who didn't love science lab. All the social roles would dissolve for 45 minutes, as each student became absorbed in finally figuring things out for his or herself. And characters like Kat and Mouse show that you can extend that type of thinking beyond grade school—that you can use your smarts on your own terms, rather than following what other people, TV and magazines say you should be like as you get older.

Think of the difference between "because I said so" and "because you made it happen"—which can you respect more? And which do you think you'll remember after class?

~Carol Fox, Editor