I Was a Rat! [Paperback]

This boy thinks that he was a rat who turned into a boy; but Bob and Joan think that he is a normal boy that is a little ratty in his habits.

Bob names this little boy Roger and soon after, Bob and Joan find that Roger chews whatever he can find, he rips apart his bed sheets with his mouth and eats pencils. Whenever he sees the story in the newspaper about Princess Aurelia, he says that she is his sister. When Roger, a very mischievous boy gets sent to school for the first time, he gets into a lot of trouble. At first nobody believes his story. That starts to change when he is taken in Mr. Tapscrew, a person who makes Roger into a lucrative fairground rat-freak. After people find out that the famous rat-boy is just a boy in a suit, Roger escapes and meets a boy-thief, Billy, who thinks Roger is a next-generation thief and gets Roger into huge trouble. After this Roger escapes to the sewers.

During all this, Bob And Joan cannot find Roger, whom they think is lost.
Rumours start to grow about a monster surrounded by rats in the sewers. When The Daily Scourge, a scandal style newspaper struggling to find a new story other than "The Wedding of Princess Aurelia and Prince Richard" finds out about these rumours, they suddenly have a great Story-"MONSTER FOUND IN SEWERS!"

When this monster is captured, the daily scourge exaggerates everything that happens. They tell the government to "Kill the Pure Evil Monster" and they make everyone afraid of the rat-boy in the sewers. When Bob reads in the paper about the extermination of the monster, he and Joan do think that this "monster" is just the little boy, Roger, and they do everything they can to convince the public that this boy is not a monster.

This story is about the power of the press over the public, and how easily the public can be deceived. It also reminds us about how much the media can exaggerate and that not everything you hear or read is true.

This story is very touching, exciting and funny at the same time, if a bit hard to follow. This is a great book and you should read it.

Philip Pullman is a master of satire, adventure, and mystery. This sequel to Perrault's Cinderella story is as much an adult book as an intermediate grade-school book as listed. Some call it Dickensian because of the many twisted misadventures the amnesiac hero experience as he stumbles through the streets of English society. It's fun to gradually recognize the familiar "Cinderella" story unravel as the answer to the puzzle of rat-boy's origin. After the Princess solves the mystery, confesses her doubts about her life with the Prince, and proves to be kind to those in need, I saw a similarity to the life of Princess Diana. See if you feel the same.

A moral lesson or two or three can be explored and embraced if your experiences and psycho/social needs warrant them. Can we believe what we see and hear? Should we trust our

own perceptions or those of the press and politicians? Is inclusion a safe policy? Shouldn't those 'out of the norm' be put away for the safety of all? What about old habits and innate genetic predispositions? Can an individual given love and patient guidance choose to overcome antisocial behaviors? Should we follow our hearts? - after all, Cinderella (now that we know what really happened) and Princess Diana did and look what happened to them.

Most of all, of course, it's unique, fast moving and fun. A great book to read to kids from 7 to 107.