Synopsis
Jim, Micky and Lisa belong to a secret club called the Sewer Rats. Every Saturday the Sewer Rats reign supreme in paintball wars held in the city's storm drain system. The new ...
Beth Karpas - VOYA
This short, fast-paced novel follows a team of high school misfits, the Sewer Rats, who are the champions of the underground paintballers. They are undefeated in battles fought in the sewer tunnels beneath the city. The book is narrated by the smallest Rat, Jimmy, who is terrified of small dark spaces, but uses an alter ego, the heroic Zantor, to help him through. The story line of this novel in the Orca Soundings series focuses on the addition of a new Rat to the team and the problems that result. The plot is predictable, but the book is nevertheless a fun read. Jimmy is the most thoroughly fleshed-out character, but the other Rats are less well developed, although each has his or her own stereotype-defying quirk. With pages of well-spaced print, this brief book should be an easy booktalk to reluctant readers. Those who are already voracious readers may be left wanting more, however. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P J S (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2006, Orca, 106p., Trade pb. Ages 12 to 18.