Arnold, Tedd. Rat life, a mystery.

ARNOLD, Tedd. Rat life, a mystery. Penguin, Dial, Sleuth. 187p. c2007. 0-8037-3020-9. $16.99. JS

Todd, the narrator, is a writer. He's 14 years old, and he relates a story about an older boy named Rat and the death and destruction he witnesses. The time is 1972, with the war in Vietnam looming over everyone. Todd writes a story for his creative writing class in school and he writes a story for the local newspaper after he survives a flood. There are stories within stories. The setting is a town in New York State, based on Elmira, with the river running through the town and the great flood of 1972 featured prominently. Todd's parents own a motel and he works hard helping them. A guest at the motel who is violent and scary turns out to be Rat's father, and it's this horrible man's death that provides the mystery of the title. Rat slowly reveals the details of his young life: how his mother lied to an army recruiter about Rat's age and how at 14 he went off to fight in Vietnam. (Arnold cites the book Dirty Little Secrets of the Vietnam War, published by St. Martin's Press, which says that a number of underage soldiers fought and died in Vietnam in the US armed forces.)

This is a boy's story, a coming-of-age tale about an innocent meeting up with a world-worn boy only slightly older than he is. Arnold grew up in Elmira and he obviously has a great deal of empathy for young Todd as he tries to gather his words and his wits to write a compelling story.

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers.

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

Claire Rosser, KLIATT