Rats

by Paul Zindel

Book Overview

The Rats are Coming...When mutant rats escape from a Staten Island dump and terrorize the town's citizens, it is up to Sarah and her younger brother, Michael, to stop them from taking over New York City and ending civilization as we know it. Book jacket.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786812257
• ISBN13: 9780786812257
• Release Date: August 2000
• Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children
• Length: 204 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 10 to 13 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 8

Customer Reviews

Creepy Rats

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.

Yikes Rats are in my mind

This seriously turned me on its almost like watching "The Birds" but the main characters are a lot smaller

Wow was that a hell of a good book

It is the best rat book that I personally have ever read. This book is good for 11-14 year olds any younger are going to think that ot is the gories book that they will ever face until they get older. This book is pretty much a "The Birds" type of book

A compelling and chilling horror book

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."

Rats: A very good book

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.