Kitty Felde ’76

Images: (left) The cover of Kitty Felde’s new book, “Welcome to Washington, Fina Mendoza.” (right) Kitty signs books at Vroman’s Bookstore in Southern California.

Photo: Frank Schaefer

Children’s book author Kitty Felde (’76) released her newest book, "Welcome to Washington, Fina Mendoza," on Dec. 3, 2020.

Felde’s story — that has since been adapted to an audio drama and taped as an episodic podcast — tells the story of the 10-year-old daughter of a Los Angeles congressman who moves to Washington, D.C., and solves the mystery of the Demon Cat of Capitol Hill. Felde’s work has earned her an invitation to speak on her writing and podcasting process at the Bay Area Book Festival and the LA Public Library. Her podcast adaptation of the book features several UCI alumni, including Raul Garza, Mat Kaplan and Laura (Segal) Stegman.

In addition to her work with “The Fina Mendoza Mysteries” series, Felde also hosts and produces the “Book Club for Kids” podcast, where middle school readers chat with Felde about novels for the middle school age group. This series originated in 2015 and has featured guest readers from Congress, the Los Angeles Lakers and numerous actors.

Felde recently completed the manuscript for the second book of “The Fina Mendoza Mysteries,” titled "State of the Union: A Fina Mendoza Mystery" which will be released in August of 2021. Her podcasts are available on all major audio streaming platforms, and "Welcome to Washington, Fina Mendoza" is currently available for purchase on Bookshop.org.