Mousenet

First-time novelist Breitrose takes the familiar “mouse story” genre into the 21st century with this lighthearted tale of 10-year-old Megan and her collaboration with the Mouse Nation, a network of highly intelligent mice who make regular use of human technology. The author envisions a humorous parallel world of mice who could “e-mail each other... post news about themselves on MouseBook, blog, and check facts in Whiskerpedia.” After Megan’s uncle invents a tiny Thumbtop computer, the perfect size for a mouse, Megan becomes the target of the tech-savvy mice, led by the Big Cheese, and is assigned a talking mouse called TM3 (later renamed Trey), who attempts to persuade Megan to deliver this technology. The relationship between Megan and Trey is strong, though other characters are less developed and the story can be convoluted, with multiple cross-country trips, Megan signing a treaty with the mice on behalf of humanity, and an environmental undercurrent to boot. But the strong-willed heroine and enthusiastically imagined world of computer-literate mice result in an amusing adventure. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. (Nov.)