Smart Rats: A Novel

By Thomas Baird

Book Overview

In a terrifying near future in which the wasteland Earth can no longer support all its human population, a seventeen-year-old is endangered by a new edict calling for the relocation of one child from... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060203641
• ISBN13: 9780060203641
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books
• Length: 199 Pages
• Weight: 0.77 lbs.
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

STIMULATES THE MIND AND TINGLES THE SPINE.

I read this book in college and this is the book that got me to like dystopian fiction, or what I like to call "dark tomorrow" fiction. The ecological conditions, the effects of the toxins, and the government's ways were brilliantly portrayed, and I felt for seventeen-year-old Arthur (the hero) and his plight. The disturbing thing is, this is a science-fiction book, but it's not a total fantasy. Look at Agent Orange, for instance. And what about Nazi Germany? Despite the fact that Arthur is seventeen, there is nothing really in here that makes it specifically a "teen" book. I think it's an entertaining and thought-provoking tale for ANYONE of any age who enjoys reading about visions of a dark tomorrow, or of any tomorrow. I think the author could have just as easily made Arthur an adult man. Good fiction is good fiction, and this is great. I recommend it highly.

One of the Best Dystopian Books EVER

As someone who has read quite a few dystopian books, I must say that SMART RATS stands out as a superior read. The story, set in the 2040's, revolves around this young man and his family--a mother gradually succumbing to toxic waste exposure, a weak-willed father, and his disturbingly insane younger sister Greta. The whole WORLD of the future is polluted and destroyed in a very realistic fashion, and massive exposure to a pollutant called Destron kills many. As if this isn't enough, the Central Government decides that 2 children per family is too much of a burden on food stores, so they make the "Offspring Improvement Program". The young man, our protagonist, is the one chosen by his parents to go on this program--but he changes the whole situation through murder. When you find out what happens to the "Offspring", you will be shocked and sickened. This whole book is amazingly good.

This is a must read book it has a great story line.

This book is a must read it has a good developing plot and great charater introduction.