Customer Reviews

The Christmas Rat

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Who else but creative genius Avi could craft such a spellbinding story with only a very average middle-schooler, an exterminator and a rat? In this harrowing tale, a young boy and an exterminator join forces to hunt down a rat which has been plaguing the child's apartment building. Engaged in a seek and destroy mission, Anjela Gabrail, aka The Angel Gabriel, enlists the boy to help oppose the rat, "or pay the penalty...So help me God." When the boy decides, however, that he would prefer to let the rat live, Anje turns on him. In a dark twist, the hunter becomes the hunted. Anje has a crossbow. Eric's in the dark. And it's Christmas. As an intellectual exercise for adults, The Christmas Rat receives my highest honors. As a lesson for budding adolescents, it is a compelling reminder Never Ever to talk to strangers. This book is recommended for readers ages nine to twelve - rest assured, not one will come away from this book untouched. For me only one aching questions remains: Why couldn't the boy tell his parents?

I have so many problems with this story that I don't know how to begin. Why did Avi cast the Angel Gabriel in the role of a loathsome, threatening exterminator? I'm no fan of the soppy, wimpy angels in many recent books for children and adults, but Gabriel surely shouldn't be evil! Why doesn't the boy tell his parents about the stranger who is threatening his life? Why has this boy--an inoffensive, average child--been singled out by an angel for such a brutal lesson? Would any angel reward the saving of a life with a crossbow bolt in the leg?

For a far, far better story featuring an angel character, read Madeline L'Engle's A Wind in the Door.

I think this book is a wonderful story to read because of the action and would be a good time to read this book during the winter because the setting of the story is in snow and in a basement. This book is about a person called Eric who is stuck in his house because of a blizzard, when a rat comes along and changes his Christmas vacation. A guy called Anje Gabrial who is a rat exterminator encounters Eric and tells him to go to the Eden's Apartment and check if there is a rat in the basement. Eric is surprised that the exterminator has poison bombs, brown pellets, and a crossbow. When Eric goes to the basement of the Eden's Apartments, what does he see? A rat! But Eric realizes that the rat needs to have an enjoyable, pleasant Christmas instead of being killed. Eric then hides the rat near the elevator so when Gabriel comes he won't be able to find the rat and kill him. There's one problem: Anje Gabrial is a maniac who says he's going to hurt Eric unless he gets what he wants - a dead rat! Will the Christmas rat survive or die? Eric's decisions will determine the rat's fate.
This story has a lot of twists, turns, and icy hot action. I felt blown away by the action between each character, and the power and tone they have in their voices. Their dialogue had a lot of feeling and showed me as a reader when the characters in the book were feeling angry, distressed, unsure, and calm.
It is an adventure book and I would recommend it for those who enjoy books and stories about Christmas and rats. I think this book is a wonderful story to read because of the action and would be a good time to read this book during the winter because the setting of the story is in snow and in a basement. Anyone who has had a friend who sick will relate to Eric's problem.
The author of this book is Avi, who has written a lot of fantastic books like Midnight Magic, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Nothing but the Truth, and Ragweed. The Christmas Rat is one of my favorite books by Avi and would rate this book 9.5 out of 10.

-J.P.

Weirdly disturbing.

Suspenseful. The best of the horror genre, without the horror.

Not very Christmas-y.

Know your child, and PRE-READ, before you give them this book. This is an odd book; a boy is hunted by the exterminator.

A couple of parenting points:

Point #1) The child in this book gets tricked into making a vow to help an exterminator kill all rats (but one in particular) -- "so help me, God." Seriously, the 11-year-old child makes this vow, at the prodding of the exterminator. (As a parent, I'm glad this book presents the possible negative consequences of swearing a vow in God's name.)

Point #2) The exterminator, Anjel Gabrial, is well written. From the beginning, you don't know whether to trust or not to trust him, and the story does not answer that question.

Point #3) Avi does one of my pet peeves -- he makes an ex-military person out to be the bad guy/weirdo/psycho death-obsessed person. "See, kid, I was in the military... Trained to kill... The works. You name it.... I was good at it, too... Didn't take me long to figure out that unless I found a job which would let me kill -- legal-like -- I'd be in trouble. So I got me a job as an exterminator...Hey, I like killing things..." (p.15)

If this were all that there was in the book, I would give it a one-star-ranking. But the book is so well-written -- suspenseful without bloodshed, and open-ended -- and the characterization of Eric (the child) is so complete, that I think it's a great book. A memorable message about not letting yourself become bored with life, that life is precious. So I *do* recommend it, as long as parents know what they are getting.

A tale that could have served to warn children to share "secrets" with their parents, shows children they can handle dangerous situations without an adult's help. This boy is totally self reliant. He handles everything without his parent's 'help or knowledge. That might be fine except Anje is dangerous. He threatens the boy's life, shoots at him with a crossbow and gains access to the boy's locked apartment in the middle of the night.

I'm stepping off my soap box. The story should capture a child's full attention. The most reluctant reader will tear through the pages, Will the rat make it until Christmas and should Eric be worried about his own fate? These questions will keep a child wondering and reading for hours on end.

Eric is a resourceful young man. His logic is clearly that of a young middle grader without the ability to anticipate the possible consequences of his silence. If I could get past these concerns and read the book for its pure entertainment value, it would receive 4 ½ smiley faces. I can't. Serious danger surrounds the boy. As a child I may not have the foresight to forecast possible dire repercussions for his silence.

Anje is obviously demented and might hurt Eric, his family or someone else. It doesn't add up. Eric seems to have a good relationship with both of his parents. Why wouldn't he confide in them? He is scared and should be.
I do not recommend this book.
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The Christmas Rat is a great book. This story takes place in a ampartment bilding on a snowy winter day.What happen in this book is a boy named Eric stays home for Christmas break. A exsterminator named Anjela comes to his home. Eric notices Anjela has a cross bow! Anjela tells him if he sees a rat call me. Eric went to the apartment basement to get the christmas thing when he sees a rat! Eric calls Anjela about the rat. Anjela comes over and makes up a silly deal with Eric witch was that Eric would promis to help him Eric says yes. 3 days later Eric goes to the basement to get the last f the christmas decorations. He sees all these little posion pellots linning the walls. He knew it was for the rat. Then Eric fells sorry for the rat after all it was christmas so, he picks up all the pellots and throws them in the trash. Then Anjela finds out and calls Eric and tells him he's a trator for not keeping his promis, even after Eric told him his feelings for the rat and how it was christmas and Anjela told Eric to not mess with his work or else. Then on Christmas Eve Eric goes to the basement to cheak on the rat and Anjela pops out and says"I told you not to mess with me!", and then starts to fire at him with his cross bow! Eric make s it out of the basement alive. The next morning in Eric's stocking he found a letter writen by Anejla it said, you win. You and the rat still live Merry Christmas. And thats how the conflict ended.

Avi uses a character that, by his own explanation at the end of the book, is an amalgam of The Angel Gabriel from various cultural representations, to be a dark, demented rat exterminator! This is a confusing tale from many aspects. The rat exterminator enlists the help of a young boy to help him kill a rat in the boy's home during the Christmas holidays. The boy eventually decides to switch sides in the battle, despite a death threat from the angel and becomes the hunted!?!

This book was rreally great. I eccspecially liked the basement scenes. Anjela Gaibrail was a little spooky. This book was really , so I did a school book report on it.cool

I think it was so cool that there was a riddle at the end of the book, but it would be nice to know the answer, or at least something about how to figure it out. What's up with that?!!! It left me kind of frustrated!

The only reason I decided to read this book was because I needed something short for a school project. The whole weekend the book was in my hands. When I ate, when I walked around the house, and while I "watched" T.V. I read it until midnight, which is when I finished the book (just within a day). Although there are a few things I would change about the book (most people want to read it over the Christmas holiday, but its NOT a good Christmas book... Anje didnt the character of one of God's angels.... The riddle in the back of the book is REALLY hard to figure out ((by the way, if you read it, please help me on this one!!))), if you need a shirt book to do a project on, this one's a good one!