Rats [Paperback]

Paul Zindel (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Sarah McGraw lives with her father and brother on the edge of town, beside a garbage dump. Her father manages the dump, but it's a job that's growing out of control, and the rats at the dump are mutating and attacking the workers. Sarah's father needs to work fast.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Zindel (Reef of Death) churns out another variation of his teen versus man-eating beast theme. Again, he relies heavily on horror, gore and gimmicks. The first scene graphically depicts a man being devoured by a mob of vicious rats, and the rest of this nightmarish thriller follows suit, as billions of rodents invade New York City after their feeding ground (a garbage dump in Staten Island) is buried under asphalt. Enter Sarah, the 15-year-old daughter of the landfill supervisor; like many of Zindel's recent heroes and heroines, Sarah possesses the courage, intelligence and creativity needed to take charge of a life-threatening situation and bring order out of chaos. Unfortunately, her scheme to "hypnotize" the rats has less narrative oomph than the string of grizzly deaths occurring before the story's climax. The book does contain a somewhat watered-down message about environmentalism, but readers caught up in the fast-paced, blood-spewing action may not take time to ponder the moral. Ages 10-14. (Aug.)

Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-Staten Island and the rest of New York City are threatened by an invasion of vicious killer rats in this gory, makes-your-skin-crawl thriller. The epicenter of the disaster turns out to be a huge landfill brimming over with decades worth of rotting garbage, right next to the quiet neighborhood where Sarah Macafee, 15, and her brother Michael, 10, live with their widowed father. Mr. Macafee just happens to be the city sanitation officer in charge of the landfill, which is in the process of being paved over with a layer of asphalt. The horror begins one summer morning with rats emerging from residents' toilets, hot tubs, and in-ground swimming pools. Sarah and Michael discover a neighbor dead in her car, and alert their father that rodents from the landfill are mounting an attack on their neighborhood. Readers looking for gruesome details are treated to numerous descriptions of bodily dismemberment by these traditionally maligned mammals, and the jolts of horror recur at regular intervals while Sarah and her brother survive several cliff-hanger escapes. Just in the nick of time, Sarah figures out a way to halt the vermin in their tracks and put an end to the bloodbath that engulfs a crowded Manhattan entertainment center. Zindel's style is fast paced and the plot is chock-full of shivery, stomach-churning action. Young readers will certainly rest easier once Sarah uses her wits to end a nightmare of carnage.-Douglas Wooley, Brooklyn Public Library, NY

Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (August 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786812257
• ISBN-13: 978-0786812257
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #92 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Teens > Horror

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rats: A very good book, January 5, 2000

By 

Josh Harrington, age 12 (CT, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rats (Hardcover)

This book was very interesting, yet gory at the same time. It kept me up at night - it was scary! It's probably not a book for younger kids because of all the gore and death. Overall it is a very descriptive book that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A compelling and chilling horror book, November 20, 2000

By 

jasenao (Dothan, Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rats (Hardcover)

Before reading "Rats," the only book I had ever read by Paul Zindel was The Pigman. After reading the back cover of "Rats", I knew I had to read it to see if Paul Zindel did as good a job with horror books as he did with fiction/drama books. "Rats" turned out to be a great book in every way. Thousands of rats are terrorizing the New York City area by appearing in toilets, pipes, and many other areas and then killing any person that they can sink their teeth into. 15-year-old Sarah and her ten-year-old brother Michael know a little bit about rats because they have an albino pet rat named Surfer. Their dad, Mr. Macafee is blamed by many people including the city mayor that it's his fault that these rats are doing this because he lives close to and takes a part in the city dump area where the rats first started their killing spree. Sarah and Michael have to use their knowledge of rats and find a way to save the people around New York City from being killed while trying to stay alive and escape the terror of the rats' claws themselves.

I liked "Rats" a lot better than I did The Pigman. I think Paul Zindel does a much better job writing horror books like "Rats." The book is unbelievably compelling and it's even scary at times. When I read about some of the explanations about what the rats looked like and how they terrorized the people, I could see a picture of a huge rat like it was staring me right in the face. If you like well written and compelling horror books, I definitely recommend getting "Rats."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creepy Rats, March 4, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Rats (Paperback)

Have you ever been grosed out by rats, being twice their size and being able to kill people maybe even smarter than you.
Once i started reading the book Rats i really enjoyed where the rats came out of nowhere to kill people. The rats were dump rats. But the rats wanted Sarah and Michael's rat Surfer. The rats were extreamly smart and they were planing something big. The rats talked to eachother curiosly.
One of the best things i liked were that every time you read it, it leaves you wiith questios.
I recommened this book to people that like gross things and people who like curious books.