"This is the story of everything that happened after my friend Kit had a meltdown at school.”
Best friends Mila and Kit spend their days doing fun things: they go to the skate park, play Truth or Dare, and pet the neighborhood cats. Mila’s favorite thing to do is draw her Shy Cat comics. But Kit’s is probably eating afternoon snacks. The first time Kit went to Mila’s house, he ate three bananas in a row without asking! Mila thinks rude is rude, but her mom says that sometimes, rude is just hungry.
When Kit has a meltdown at school over a “best before” date, a bag of apples, and a dented can—Mila realizes there’s something important she might have missed about her friend. And it all starts with their school’s Stuff-the-Bus food drive challenge.
"Sensitive portrayals of food insecurity and child hunger distinguish Day’s compassionate graphic novel debut…. A gently instructional narrative portrays Mila’s growing comprehension of Kit’s situation, and emphasizes the importance of resources such as food banks and community gardens as well as providing tactful personal support. White employs loose line art and soft color washes across cartoony illustrations that also feature the tweens’ own hand-drawn comics about the imaginative adventures of Shy Cat. Information about the Hunger Stories Project—an organization dedicated to raising awareness about food insecurity in North America—concludes."
"Mila is an earnest heroine who’s eager to help her neighbors; in the course of the story, she learns about community methods for addressing food insecurity, like community gardens and school food programs. Through her, serious issues, such as the social stigma of food insecurity and the dearth of fresh fruits and vegetables at school, are tackled in a lighthearted way."
"In Shy Cat and the Stuff-the-Bus Challenge, Dian Day and Amanda White invite readers to think about what it means to not have enough nutritious food to eat. Narrated by Mila, this story explores friendship, different life situations, and food insecurity. Through Mila's comic strips, readers get a glimpse into this budding artist's mind as she tries to understand why her friend Kit's family is food insecure while her own is not. While searching for answers to her many questions, Mila notices a neighbourhood stray cat that also doesn’t have enough to eat. This graphic novel, with its fun illustrations and well-paced story, will be an excellent conversation and question starter for middle graders learning about food security."