October 1, 2006
Gr 9 Up-In "Sewer Rats", Jim and his friends are part of a league of paintballers who play in the towns sewers. When a member of their team sabotages a match, her mates try to confront her. She runs into the tunnels when a rainstorm hits, and they must find her before the water rises. Suspense builds as Jim tries to overcome his fear in the drainpipes. In "Chat Room", Linda, a quiet underclassman, strikes up conversations with a mysterious Cyrano in her schools new monitored chat room, only to find that her visions of the real Cyrano are far from the truth. Butcher hammers home warnings about online predators, and the chat dialogue is less than authentic with its complete sentences and absence of lingo. Real chatters will see past the façade, but the topic will generate some interest. With short chapters and written in an easy style, both books will appeal to reluctant readers. Adequate choices for heavily circulating paperback collections."Delia Carruthers, Sunset Ridge Middle School, West Jordan, UT"
Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2006
Determined to defend their paintball title, the Sewer Rats, a group of six troublemakers, face off in their city's sewers against a neighboring gang. However, the battle doesn't go as planned, and the Sewer Rats find themselves struggling for survival. Despite an exciting plot, this short book for reluctant readers fails to take full advantage of the potentially multi-dimensional main characters.
(Copyright 2006 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)