VALLEY OF THE RATS

Lost in the woods, Krish and his father discover a village with a dangerous secret.

Twelve-year-old germophobe Krish Roy has never liked the outdoors: It’s too dirty and unpredictable. But trying to connect with his nature photographer father, Krish agrees to leave Delhi and go with his dad to a wilderness adventure camp in the Ladakh Range, where they embark on a hike through the forest and mountains. Unfortunately for Krish, he was right to be worried. He and his father find themselves lost in the wilderness with a broken radio and an unsettling number of rats. When Krish suggests they follow the rats, who might lead them to human habitation, they find not the safe shelter Krish hoped for but instead Imdur, an isolated village controlled by a mysterious and possibly untrustworthy shaman. Krish wants to get out of there, but his father wishes to learn more, and the two are drawn into the village’s practices and begin to stray closer and closer to danger. To survive, Krish must learn to believe in himself and face his fears directly, even if he’s never been able to do so before. A good deal of action, a likable protagonist, and an ever growing sense of doom speed this novel along, though there is little time to explore some of the darker consequences of Krish’s actions.

A satisfying fantasy full of mystery.