“When you’ve lived in a cage, you can’t bear not to run, even if what you’re running towards is an illusion.”
Mrs. Frisby is a widowed mouse with 4 children. One day, her smallest mouse, Timothy, is sick with pneumonia, so she goes to a wise mouse named Mr. Ages in order to get medicine for him. Timothy is temporarily better, but then they come across a whole new problem: Moving Day. Every year when the weather gets warm after winter, the farmer plows the land near the Frisby's house. When those days arrive, the mice move to their summer home. However, because of Timothy's situation, they are unable to do so. So Mrs. Frisby asks around until she gets directed to the rats who might be able to help her. In the beginning, they won't listen to her pleas at all, but when she mentions her name is Frisby, the rats suddenly become interested.
This book contains two stories that are intertwined with each other; almost like a story within a story, but not quite. The first story involves Mrs. Frisby and her family, and how she is trying to protect her family even with the loss of her husband. The second story involves the rats in the woods who has escaped from the National Institute of Mental Health, NIMH for short. They've had injections in the facility that made them intelligent, and it gave them the ability to learn how to read. It's interesting how one person, or in this case, one animal, ties these two stories together, even when it has passed away. There are many changes that happens to characters due to their experience. For example, the rats from NIMH like Nicodemus come to learn that rats are disliked by humans because of their thieving tendencies, and they decided that they should live a life where they could live well without stealing. This decision changed many of the rats because once they decided they would not steal, their personalities started changing for the better. While I think that the book is good for a light read, the plot itself is a bit flat. Even though there is some sort of climax, it's not very exciting. Also, the plotline itself is a bit too cliché and too predictable for my taste.
This book contains two stories that are intertwined with each other; almost like a story within a story, but not quite. The first story involves Mrs. Frisby and her family, and how she is trying to protect her family even with the loss of her husband. The second story involves the rats in the woods who has escaped from the National Institute of Mental Health, NIMH for short. They've had injections in the facility that made them intelligent, and it gave them the ability to learn how to read. It's interesting how one person, or in this case, one animal, ties these two stories together, even when it has passed away. There are many changes that happens to characters due to their experience. For example, the rats from NIMH like Nicodemus come to learn that rats are disliked by humans because of their thieving tendencies, and they decided that they should live a life where they could live well without stealing. This decision changed many of the rats because once they decided they would not steal, their personalities started changing for the better. While I think that the book is good for a light read, the plot itself is a bit flat. Even though there is some sort of climax, it's not very exciting. Also, the plotline itself is a bit too cliché and too predictable for my taste.
Accelerated Reader Book Level: 5.1