Rat Race - by Avi (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

In this imaginative adventure from Newbery Medal-winning author Avi, four rats will face the ultimate test when they learn to do what no rat has ever learned to do before: Drive.

There's a whole world on the outside surely waiting for these four lab rats to finally walk among them...

Starting tomorrow, Rats, your lives are going to become different...

Moosh is a three-year-old rat who's never seen anything other than the inside of Doc's laboratory. But one day, before Doc closes the lab for the night, Moosh overhears her telling her assistant that tomorrow, the rats will learn to do something extraordinary. Something that no rat has ever done before. The thing is, Moosh, Kalta, Panya, and Noo can already do some extraordinary things. They can swim, push levers, turn over boxes, and find their way out of a maze. They've done just about everything they could do within the four walls of Doc's lab, except leave it.

But the next day, something extraordinary does happen. With the help of a mysterious box with windows on four sides and wheels on the bottom, Moosh shoots forward and begins to move faster than he's ever moved before. With a delicious carrot tempting him on the other side of the room, and a whir and a bolt jolting him forward, Moosh learns how to drive a car...

Moosh has always dreamed of freedom, but he's never fully tasted it until this very moment. And now with news of Doc leaving the lab for good and the threat of Feeder, their nighttime rat-hating nemesis ready to strike, it's clear what he has to do: he has to teach the other rats to drive their way out of this lab and into the real world.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Road from Nowhere:

A Junior Library Guild Selection

* "Avi is a master of historical fiction, addressing universal issues that transcend his novel's setting and timeline. A first purchase." -- School Library Journal (starred review)

"A page-turner with a well-realized setting." -- Kirkus Reviews

"This rousing historical novel highlights the Silver Crash of 1893, a consequential moment in American history whose economic implications dramatically impact the protagonists' dreams of cultivating a better future for themselves." -- Publishers Weekly

Distinctions and Praise for The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

A Newbery Honor BookBoston Globe-Horn Book Award

An ALA Notable Children's Book

An ALA Best Book for Young Adults

A Booklist Editors' Choice

A Horn Book Fanfare Book

An NCTE Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts

A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

* "A thrilling tale, tautly plotted, vividly narrated." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "Riveting. Nonstop action. A story hard to forget." --Booklist, starred review

Distinctions and Praise For Nothing But the Truth

A Newbery Honor Book

A Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book

An ALA Notable Book

An ALA Best Book for Young Adults

"The story of Philip Malloy, his family, friends, teachers and school, shouts to be shared." --The New York Times

"It is clear that Avi is attuned to the modern high school scene. With frankness and remarkable insight, he conveys the flaws of the system while creating a story that is both entertaining and profound." -- Publishers Weekly

About the Author