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

Stand Tall by Joan Bauer

By DeeDee
Stand Tall By Siena Siegel by Joan Bauer Putnam, 2002, 182 pgs Realistic Fiction Tree is 12 years old and over 6 feet tall. That would be great if he were a basketball player, but he is not. Dealing with his unusual size is not Tree's only challenge. Tree's parents have recently gone through a divorce, and his grandfather has had his leg amputated as the result of an old Vietnam War injury. The strength of this book is the characterizations. All of the main characters are dimensional and sympathetic. Bauer sets the characters in real and often funny family situations. Best of all is the character of Tree. He is boy with a heart to match his stature. This is a great book for boys or girls ages 9-12, as a read aloud or for individual reading. This book could also be a good Rx book for children whose families are going through divorce, or for anyone who feels like they don't fit in.
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The New Girl

By
The New Girl By Cassandra Calin New York: Graphix, 2024. Comic. 261 pages. 12-year-old Lia and her family have just moved from Romania to Montreal, and she's doing her best to keep up with the changes. But, she's homesick. She misses the rest of her family, her friends, and her favorite Romanian treats. She doesn't speak French and her English is shaky, which makes it hard to make friends, even in her international immersion class. And she's dealing with super painful menstrual cramps every month. But before long, Lia starts to hit her stride. She befriends the other bilingual girls in her class, she gets a spot as the artist for her school's magazine, and even has a new crush -- Julien. Though she may be the new girl, Lia is starting to fit in. This slice of life graphic novel is an adorable choice for middle grade readers and young teens. Lia is a likable protagonist and readers will have little difficulty relating to her adjustment to school. The text speaks to a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker

By
  Cincinnati Lee, Curse Breaker By Heidi Heilig New York: Greenwillow Books, 2025. Fiction. 291 pages. Thanks to Cincinnati Lee's no good, dirty rotten, artifact stealing great great great grandfather, Cincinnati's family is now cursed and Cincinnati feels like it's up to her to break the curse. Which involves trying to steal the artifacts back from museums that her grandfather robbed from graves and archeological sites around the world and return them to their countries of origin. But when Cincinnati's first artifact stealing mission goes awry, she decides it might be more effective to steal an all-powerful artifact herself that she can use to break the curse - The Spear of Destiny. Unfortunately her race for the spear will pit her against art smugglers and thieves intent on finding the ancient artifact themselves. If you are looking for an Indiana Jones read-alike, this is the perfect for you! Heavy on the adventure with similar levels of mysticism to those seen in th...
Post a Comment
Read more