"My story starts on the day I lost my entire family," begins Isaiah, who is a literate, neon-blue laboratory mouse, the youngest, smallest and most cowardly of 96 brothers and sisters. To the "Long Coats" of the "Horrible Place" he is known simply as "Blue 97."
Just as his family is escaping the lab, Isaiah loses them. For the first time in his life, he is alone--no cedar-shaving bed, no kibble, no sugar water, no anything. He is terrified. But also... curious. Out in the real world, in "Suburbia," Isaiah encounters slimy-skinned rats, devil cats and vermin-hating pie-bakers. He wonders, "Is my life outside of the Horrible Place doomed to become nothing but an endless quest for food and shelter?" Isaiah is not homeless for long. He befriends an enormous mouse family, gets a huge crush on a girl mouse, and even meets a 12-year-old, possibly albino human girl who also feels small, misunderstood and powerless, and who affirms, "We're all different. It's the only thing we have in common." Through many suspenseful scrapes, Isaiah proves time and time again he's not the cowardly mouse he once thought he was. Is there any way he can tap into that new-found courage and reunite with his family?
Chris Grabenstein (Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library) has collaborated with James Patterson on the I Funny, Treasure Hunters and House of Robots series. Joe Sutphin's absolutely wonderful, delicately etched black-and-white illustrations--reminiscent of Garth Williams's fine work--catapult this witty, action-packed middle-grade novel to new heights. Sweet, brave Isaiah will surely scurry and dart his way into readers' hearts. --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness