My fourth grader asked me to read this since he really liked it and wanted to talk about it. As an adult and a writer, I feel that some of the writing wasn't great; however, it was a fun, quick read and I could see why 9 and 10 year olds would like it.

Hopper, a pet store mouse, escapes, loses his brother and sister in the process, and finds himself lost in the Brooklyn underground where he meets up with Zucker, a rat prince, whose father Titus is king of Romanus. Hopper quickly finds out that not everyone loves the rat kingdom which has a seemingly peaceful treaty with the cats and a relocation and colonization program for other rodents. Hopper soon finds himself caught in the battle between rebels, mice, and rats, learning about betrayal and how to deal with being the Chosen One.

My main gripes:

The Chosen One. An overly used trope. Here it's not even called anything else. And of course he figures out the subway system in moments when others have been studying it for years. Younger readers would not be that aware of the trope as much, so we can sort of pass on that, but him figuring out the subway system needed something more especially since he just learned to read. I also doubt very much that seasoned veterans would take orders from a young, inexperienced pet store mouse, chosen one or not. The author could have given him a vital role, but i don't buy that he planned the entire attack.

There are a lot of cliches and filtered writing. I think even kids deserve better writing. Sometimes it bordered on lazy writing because the fixes would have been simple and quick.

On another note, I was surprised that the author did not shy away from violence especially in the cat attack. It wasn't graphic, but it did add some realism and raised the stakes and the tension of the book. There were real consequences if the mice and rat rebels lost the fight, so that's a plus to the book.