Early Book Review: The Rat with the Human Face (The Qwikpick Papers) by Tom Angleberger

The Rat with the Human Face is the second book in the The Qwikpick Papers series by Tom Angleberge. It is currently scheduled for release on April 21 2015. Lyle Hertzog and his friends Marilla and Dave are the Qwikpick Adventure Society. The three kids seek out adventure in their seemingly quiet hometown of Crickenburg. In hunting for their next big adventure the kids overhear a construction worker telling his buddies about a rat with a human face he saw in the basement of an old research facility. The decision is unanimous: the next adventure for the Qwikpick Society is on! But when their trip to find the rat doesn’t go quite as expected, the trio gets in big trouble. Will the second adventure for the Qwikpick Society also be their last?

Alright, i admit that I get a kick out for the voice and humor found in every Angleberger book that i have read thus far. The Rat with the Human Face is no exception. The series is fun and captures the conflicts in the middle schooler's mind, and in the world. Lyle is the main voice in this adventure, and we get a clear picture of his mindset and worries. The notion of being a good kid that gets in trouble more than any of the trouble makers is something I could relate to, even though those years are further behind me than I care to think about. The adventure and planning seemed to go pretty quick in this instalment, but was still interesting. I liked that the answers about the rat are not just thrown at the reader, and we get to use our imagination and mind to decide its real nature.

I highly recommend The Rat with the Human Face to everyone that enjoyed the first book in the Qwikpick Papers series. It is funny, full of adventure, and has moments that every middle grader can relate to on some level.

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