#Mouseheart

So recently I received an email asking if I might be interested in taking a look at this book.

Hmm. Animal fantasy. Not usually my pick but I kept reading. It's one the kiddos like.

Hopper is just an ordinary pet-shop mouse—until he escapes. Soon he finds himself below the bustling streets of Brooklyn, deep within the untamed tangles of transit tunnels, and in Atlantia, a glorious utopian rat civilization.

But all is not as it seems. Hopper misses Pinkie and Pup, the siblings he lost in the escape attempt. Atlantia is constantly threatened by roving rebels who wish to bring the city to its knees. And there are cats everywhere, cats who would normally eat a rodent in a second, but leave the rats unharmed . . . and no one can seem to answer why.

Soon Hopper is caught in the crosshairs of an epic battle, one that spans generations and species. As the clashes rage, Hopper learns terrible, extraordinary secrets. Deadly secrets about Atlantia. Painful secrets about his friends.

And one powerful secret about himself.

This one takes place in the tunnels under New York. I know it's weird and random but I've always been fascinated by stories that take place in tunnels. Wouldn't want to be there myself AT ALL but I like the suspense of the location. So I said "Sure, let me take a look!"

And hooray! (Imagine like in the old Life cereal commercial voice) "Ms. O liked it!" And so will my students.

Things I Liked Right Away
Great description. It was very easy to create the images in my head as I read. The characters and settings were right there. My apologies for not saving a quote. I was too busy reading. ;)
Hopper and Zucker. Opposites attract to become friends. Who doesn't like a good buddy story.
300 pages (at least in its current typeface ... that could have changed a little with the final copy). So not super short but not overly long, either. This one will be more accessible to kids than 450 pages plus. Definitely fourth grade and maybe a strong third grader could read it independently. Would also make for a fun read aloud to second grade.
The cats are the bad guys! I am not a cat lady.

Not to forget the lovely cover artwork. The rough sketches in the advanced copy that I saw look great so I'm sure the final artwork will be even better.

I will definitely be getting a copy for our school collection and talking about it when school starts in the fall. I already added the link to the website to our Summer Reading Symbaloo and told a couple kids about "this book I am reading."

Guess what? I get to facilitate giving one of you getting a copy! Along with Belly Up (hilarious!) and The Search for Wondla (great scifi). Seriously. Who wants them? All you have to do is comment below with ... what should the comment be.  Was going to go for something creative but let's go with simple. How about "I want to read Mouseheart! And GO SPURS GO!" I will number your comments and choose a winner after the game on Sunday. Leave your email so that I can find it! US only. Check for the tag #Mouseheart on Twitter to find more ways to win.

This post comes to you courtesy of Safari since Chrome has gone completely ka-blooey on my Mac. Disabled all extensions/add-ons. Tried reinstalling. Chrome is still the one program that gets completely hung up. #techcanbesocoolwhenitsnotbeinglame #itslamealot