A potential option for nonfiction fans hoping to dip a toe into fiction.
Getting to the International Space Station is only the first hurdle in a rodent’s race to space.
Mortimer, a discarded pet, is a lab rat in Houston at the Johnson Space Center. He enjoys his life, observing AsCans (astronaut candidates) and hanging out with his friends, especially Celeste. However, he’s upset that humans don’t realize how great rats are, and he’d love a chance to visit the space station and maybe prove rats are better suited to colonize Mars when the humans finally have the technology to make the trip. Mortimer is thrilled when he learns that the rat with the fastest maze time will get a spot on the space station, and with only a little cheating and a little luck, he’s chosen to go. Mortimer keeps a journal (hidden in his bedding), and when he steals a camera from a reporter, he’s ready to pursue his Grand Plan proving rats are more suited to space by posting video evidence on YouTube. Executing his plan is no easy task even with the help of Boris the cosmorat, who was born in space. The juxtaposition of myriad space facts and rat facts with many ludicrous and physically impossible feats of rat sneakiness makes for a flawed novel. No suspension of disbelief is springy enough to allow for the goings-on in nonfiction writer Galat’s first attempt at fiction.
A potential option for nonfiction fans hoping to dip a toe into fiction. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-77086-653-9
Page Count: 192
Publisher: DCB
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.
When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.
As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?
Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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