Rat Boys: A Dating Experiment [Hardcover]

Thom Eberhardt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 2001

Best friends Summer and Marci are in a quandry when they tell obnoixious Jennifer that they have dates for the Spring fling. Unfortunately for them, this is not exactly true. The only way to recover from the ultimate humiliation of getting caught in this ile is to produce actual dates for the dance. Luckily for them, the girls' part-time boss, crazy Doris Trowbridge, finds a magic ring. With it, she turns two pet rats into the cutest guys they have ever seen. But now everyone, including Jennifer, is interested in them. And rats have a lot more in common with boys than anyone would think...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Though screenwriter Eberhardt's zany plot makes no pretense at credibility, it introduces a witty, believable 15-year-old narrator whose language liberally sprinkled with the kind of teen jargon that makes English teachers cringe can be overheard at any mall. In a foreword, Marci explains that the tale she is about to relay, involving her best friend, took place a year earlier when the two were ninth graders: "This whole thing is really about the first dates me and Summer ever had in our lives, which were these two totally cool, cute beyond belief guys. I am not kidding about this they were to drool and die for." And they are, quite literally, rats, turned into handsome humans with the help of a magic ring that grants the wish of the person wearing it in this case Doris, the owner of an antique store for which Marci and Summer work part-time. Bribing the rat boys with food, the girls teach them to talk and dance in an attempt to pass them off as real guys at the town's annual spring dance and to show up their nemesis, a popular, picture-perfect classmate. As the ruse spins out of control, slapstick twists, snappy dialogue and wry asides from Marci create some laugh-out-loud moments reminiscent of a teen-targeted screenplay. Ages 12-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-8. Marci and Summer are cute and popular. Jennifer Martin is perfect. Then puberty hits, turning Jennifer into Junior Miss Indiana, and Marci and Summer into normal, awkward, orthodontically challenged 14-year-olds. When Jennifer insults Marci and Summer, Marci blurts out that she and Summer have dates for the Spring Fling dance. With the help of an eccentric store owner and a magic ring, the girls turn two pet rats into dates, but with unanticipated results. Mix-ups and lessons ensue, and when life eventually returns to normal, Marci and Summer are a little more accepting of themselves and others. The story isn't particularly credible. Rat-boys aside, it's hard, for example, to believe that young teens would discuss their menstrual cycle as explicitly as Eberhardt's characters do, and repeated use of phrases such as "I'm like, 'huh'" wears one's patience after a while. Still, it's lighthearted stuff, and the end is refreshingly realistic: obnoxious Jennifer just keeps on being obnoxious. Marta Segal
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1st edition (October 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786806966
• ISBN-13: 978-0786806966
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,156,517 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If Only It Could Really Happen!!!, April 29, 2004

By 

"lil_ai308" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rat Boys: A Dating Experiment (Hardcover)

I think this book is a very interesting and fun book for teens to read. I like it because it relates to a teen's life, and where I am right now in life. This book keeps you into it and keeps you guessing to see what's going to happen next. That makes me want to continue to read the book, knowing something's going to happen, although I might not know what it is. Lastly, I think Thom Eberhardt really wrote a wonderful and creative book, even though it is isn't true, teens would still do anything to reach their goal, using magic or not.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious!!, September 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Rat Boys: A Dating Experiment (Hardcover)

This book is gut-wrenchingly funny. On the same par as any of Louise Rennison's books--I don't know why it hasn't gotten similar publicity. No marketing? 2 friends find a magic ring & decide to zap their pet rats into dates for a school dance. Problem: the very cute boys still act a little like rats. But the popular girls are way jealous!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Trash, February 21, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Rat Boys: A Dating Experiment (Hardcover)

Well, I think that this book is simply terrible. The plot is overdone and completely, completely too cheesy. There is almost no character development. In fact, as I was reading this I didn't care at all about what was going to happen to the characters. This is a shallow, superficial book that all people-- girls, (boys?), teens, everyone--should steer clear of.