Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat

Author: Lynne Jonell

Publisher: New York : H. Holt, 2007.

Plot Description:

            Emmy feels completely invisible most of the time.  No one at school ever talks to her, not even her teacher knows her name.  Her parents are off jetting around Europe again.  The only person who ever really talks to her is her nanny, Miss Barmy, but that’s usually to scold her or make her take another kind of medicine.  Then of course, there is the rat.  The rat is the classroom pet, and he is full of conniving schemes.  Like how Emmy should let him go free.  One day Emmy does, and thus starts an adventure she couldn’t imagine.  One that explains why no one seems to notice her.  Because they’ve all been convinced she doesn’t exist. 

Review:

            Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat is a great tween read.  Friendless Emmy is out to finally learn how to stand up for herself, and is able to make a friend or two in the process.  She, with the help of the rat and her new friend Joe (who got sucked into this mess by the rat as well), discover that her nanny isn’t all that she seems.  The book mixes fantasy well, and the reader ends up believing that all this might just happen.  I would definitely recommend this to both boy or girl tweens, its mix of fun-filled adventure combined with Emmy coming into her own is hard to resist!

Genre: Humorous Fiction

Reading level: 5^th Grade

Similar Books: The School Story

Reader’s Advisory:

Personal thoughts- Really fun story

Subjects/themes- animals, rats, fantasy, humor

Series information- There is a second book about Emmy

Character names/descriptions-

            Emmy- can’t understand why no one seems to notice her

            Joe- the first kid in her class, who notices her after the rat bites him

            Miss Barmy- Emmy’s nanny, who is just  a bit odd

Annotation: Not all rats are pesky rodents. 

Coraline (movie)

Coraline

Movie Distributed by Universal

Publisher:  Universal City, CA. : Universal Studios Home Entertainment, c2009.

Plot Description:

            Coraline is a young girl who stumbles upon a parallel universe in the new house her parents have moved into.  Here her other mother and father lavish her with the attention that her real parents never give here. There movie follows the theme of the book with fantastical Tim Burton cinematography.

Review:

            The movie bears some stricking differences from the book, most notably that it is set in the US instead of in England like in the book. Coraline has a friend in the movie, Wybie, who helps her navigate the parallel world and defeat other mother.  The general plot remains the same, though little changes are made to different objects to make them more relatable to an American audience.  Overall the movie is a pretty typical Tim Burton film.  It’s a bit more scary than the book itself, suited to a little more mature of an audience than the book itself might lend itself to.

Genre: Horror

Viewing age: 4^th-5^th Grade

Similar Movies: Alice in Wonderland

Reader’s Advisory:

Personal thoughts- good horror story that is not too gruesome or violent

Subjects/themes- Fiction, Horror, Parallel Worlds, Rats, Cats, Family

Character names/descriptions-

            Coraline- young girl who finds a parallel world on the other side of a door

Other Mother- Coraline’s mother in the parallel universe, turns out to be evil, has buttons for eyes

            Misses Spink and Forcible- former actresses who give Coraline a rock for

protection

            Mr. Bobo- upstairs neighbor who has a mouse circus

            Wybie- her friend who helps her navigate both worlds

Annotation: Sometimes opening a door can be the wrong move to make.

Coraline

Coraline

Author: Neil Gaiman

Publisher: New York : HarperCollins, c2002.

 

Plot Description:

            Coraline is an explorer.  When her parents move into a new flat, with Mr. Bobo and his mouse circus upstairs and Misses Spink and Forcible below, she takes it upon herself to learn all about her new house.  Including the mysterious door in the parlor which opens to a brick wall.  After hearing strange noises one night, Coraline opens the door to find not the wall, but a corridor leading to another flat.  A flat with her other mother and other father.  Where things are just a bit different from her real life.  Where everything is full of menace and traps. Coraline will have to outwit this evil version of her mother to get back to her real home, but will she be able to?

Review:

            I found Coraline to be an excellent.  Well written and engaging, the book is suspenseful and a big frightening without being overly so.  It touches on the themes of imagination and family, as well as the concept of a parallel universe. My favorite part was where Coraline is talking to other mother and the other mother offers her everything she has ever wanted and Coraline states that she doesn’t want everything because then nothing is special.  I thought that this demonsrated wisdom beyond young Coraline’s years, though on a number of occasions Coraline shows remarkable clarity and intelligence.  A really good book for both boys and girls.

Genre: Horror

Reading level: 4^th-5^th Grade

Similar Books: A Series of Unfortunate Events, Alice in Wonderland

Reader’s Advisory:

Personal thoughts- good horror story that is not too gruesome or violent

Subjects/themes- Fiction, Horror, Parallel Worlds, Rats, Cats, Family

Awards- 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella, 2003 Nebula Award for Best Novella, 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers

Character names/descriptions-

            Coraline- young girl who finds a parallel world on the other side of a door

Other Mother- Coraline’s mother in the parallel universe, turns out to be evil, has buttons for eyes

            Misses Spink and Forcible- former actresses who give Coraline a rock for

protection

            Mr. Bobo- upstairs neighbor who has a mouse circus

Annotation: Sometimes opening a door can be the wrong move to make.