The Rat Queen (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781536218589)

From National Book Award winner Pete Hautman comes a mysterious modern-day fairy tale about developing a moral compass--and the slippery nature of conscience.

For Annie's tenth birthday, her papa gives her a pad of paper, some colored pencils, and the Klimas family secret. It's called the nuodeema burna, or eater of sins. Every time Annie misbehaves, she has to write down her transgression and stick the paper into a hidey-hole in the floor of their house. But Annie's inheritance has a dark side: with each paper fed to the burna, she feels less guilty about the mean things she says and does. As a plague of rats threatens her small suburban town and the mystery of her birthright grows, Annie--caught in a cycle of purging her misdeeds--begins to stop growing. It is only when she travels to her family's home country of Litvania to learn more about the burna that Annie uncovers the magnitude of the truth. Gripping and emotionally complex, Pete Hautman's inventive yarn for middle-grade readers draws on magical realism to explore coming of age and the path to moral responsibility.

Author: Pete Hautman
ISBN-10: 1536218588
ISBN-13: 9781536218589
Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
Language: English
Published: 10/11/2022
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.60w x 1.50d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.3
Point Value: 10
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 516461 / Rat Queen


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 08/15/2022
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2022
Booklist 08/01/2022 pg. 74
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 10/01/2022
Horn Book Magazine 11/01/2022 pg. 86
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2022 - Superior,Well Above Average