Skip to main content

Joe Rat

By

by Mark Barratt
Eerdmans, 2009. 307 pgs. Historical fiction.


Young Joseph is the size of an eight-year old but his hard life has given him the look of someone much older. A "tosher," Joe hunts for anything of value in the sewers of Victorian London, although most of what he finds goes to pay off the interest on two guineas loaned him by "Mother," the crime boss of Proud Field, whose ample thumb is on everyone in the neighborhood. Street gangs beat him up and steal his stuff, and his home is shared floor space in a boarding house on a revolving schedule. But Joe has managed to squirrel away enough "tosh" to set himself up one day, in the only safe place he knows: the fenced garden/graveyard of The Madman, a local character of whom even Mother is afraid. When Joe meets Bess, fresh in from the country and in need of a friend, he rejects everything Mother has taught him in order to help her. Together they come face to face with the Madman and their lives take a turn neither could ever have expected. But will things be better for them? or much worse. In Joe Rat, Mark Barratt has written a deeply affecting Dickensian tale of children in terrible peril, who show themselves resourceful, reliable, and caring in desperate circumstances. Five stars. Good reading for advanced elementary readers, young adults, and adults.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Library in the Woods

By
  The Library in the Woods Written by Calvin Alexander Ramsey Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie Minneapolis, MN : Carolrhoda Books, 2025. Picture Book. I am always intrigued by picture books that tell stories from the past in beautiful and meaningful ways, leaving the reader educated, and also hopeful and inspired. This book definitely did that for me! The cover is a beautiful peek into the story waiting on the pages. Junior and his family have lived on a farm that is having a hard time producing what it needs to for the family to survive economically. The parents make the hard decision to move away from the farm and into the city. Junior misses a lot of things about his life in the country. However, when Junior's friends tell him about a library in the woods, things change for him in the best way! He is amazed by the seemingly endless collection of books, and is eager to check some out for his family. Junior excitedly borrows a few books, including one about a farmer for his dad ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Tumblebaby

By
Tumblebaby Written by Adam Rex Illustrated by Audrey Helen Weber New York : Neal Porter Books/Holiday House, 2024. Picture book. I love a funky picture book. Slumbering Tumblebaby rolls out the door and into a wonderfully meandering yarn, thwarting scoundrels and coyotes, scaling unclimbable mountains, and even building a community center in Colorado City. Adam Rex's text reads like a folksy tall tale, punctuated by funny lines and rhyming chants.  Weber's colorful, round illustrations feel a little Fauvist, a little cubist. It's a sort of "Oh, The Places You'll Go!"  but in reverse - we learn in the last few pages that, in fact, that baby was YOU! This revelation made my young son gasp, which made me choke up.  Tumblebaby is a surreal delight perfect for reading together. 
Post a Comment
Read more