Ship Rats by Rhian WallerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This charming and exciting children’s story about a group of very young white rats, who stray aboard a wooden sailing ship and become involved in all kinds of adventures as it journeys across the high seas, is obviously written by a person who has kept them as pets. I can say that as someone who also had pet white rats as a teenager and whose daughter was equally captivated by these clean and clever pet creatures. The story is fast moving and full of challenging incidents that the three central characters, Lu, Rip and Preen, must face and overcome. There is a main adversary, Black Spot, a wild rat who is the leader of a gang aboard the ship who forces the young trio to take a number of special tests in order to prove they are not “pets”. He is particularly unpleasant and meanwhile of course the human crew, who the rats call the Bigs, display all the usual fears and prejudices against rats. And who, incidentally, express their misogyny about women aboard ships when a young Swedish girl is found as a stowaway.
Rhian Waller includes lots of curious, and often amusing, terms and new words in a “ratty” sense which will appeal to young readers of around 8 to 11 years I would guess. I especially like the word “rittens” used to describe baby rats as opposed to “kittens” the usual appellation. I also applaud the fact that the author wishes to use money from the sales of the book to support the HeroRATS of an organisation that uses trained rats to find the hidden landmines from various wars. The book would greatly benefit from the inclusion of a number of illustrations throughout the story as it is aimed at children. Otherwise, I can recommend it as an interesting and intriguing tale that is definitely different.
View all my reviews
RSS Feed
