Early Book Review: Mousemobile by Prudence Breitrose and Stephanie Yue

Mousemobile is a children's book written by Prudence Breitrose and illustrated by Stephanie Yue. This sequel to Mousenet is scheduled for release on October 15 2013. I did not read the first book, but think other readers new to the series will be able to catch up to the larger story as quickly as I did. In this book, there are exactly four humans that know mice have evolved to become extremely smart.  Two of those humans are eleven-year-old Megan and her cousin Joey, who have summer jobs in mouse-powered factory that makes Thumbtops (the tiny computers mice use). When the Big Cheese, leader of the Mouse Nation, needs their help in California the four humans rush to the rescue. Soon they are on a crazy road-trip-with way too many mice and just one step ahead of the mysterious enemy. Can the humans save the Mouse Nation so that mice can continue their fight for the health of the planet, and will Megan ever be able to share the secrets about mice with her mother?

Mousemobile is full of fun and adventure. The entire Mouse Nation is in danger, all because of a few mice becoming a little too fond of human luxuries. There are aspects of a mystery, as readers and the characters work to figure out just who is following the main characters, who their enemy is, and how they keep finding them. There is also the story of friendship and family with Megan, Uncle Fred, Joey, Jake, and the rest of the human characters. I liked that the mice have personalities that are just as large and varied as the humans that they communicate with. The each have challenges to face and some growth, but not so much that it takes away from the adventure of the story.

I found the journey of the Mousemobile to be as fun, fast, and furry read that I would recommend to the middle grade set. Readers that enjoy animals, adventure, environmental activism, and technology will particularly enjoy this book. I think that if I had read Mousenet first I would have enjoyed this volume even more, and look forward to rectifying that lack as soon as possible.