Ten-year-old Emmy Addison returns with rodent pal Raston Rat to prove she’s a responsible kid who still has what it takes to outwit her former nanny, the devious Jane Barmy, in this fast-paced sequel to Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls (2008).
Fresh from their unscrupulous ventures three weeks ago, when they were transformed into rats, shameless Jane Barmy and her besotted partner in crime, Cheswick Vole, resurface, intent on revenge. While vandalizing Emmy’s bedroom to frame her for irresponsibility, the dastardly duo learn Professor Capybara has developed patches embedded with kisses from Raston’s sister Sissy that can turn them back into full-sized humans. Together they steal Capybara’s formula, dupe Emmy’s parents into sending her to visit her great aunts in Schenectady and trick Sissy to go with Emmy to find her “Ratmom.” In Schenectady, bats “ratnap” Sissy, who’s forced to produce more patches while Emmy discovers her elderly great aunts barely surviving on their own. Using every transforming rodent trick (bites, kisses and reverse aging tears), Emmy and Raston crash a river-rat bar, scale a batty belfry and stow away on a train, attempting to rescue Sissy and save the aunts. The complicated, improbable but highly entertaining plot showcases brave, responsible Emmy and hilarious, irresponsible Raston. Bats appropriately swirl in the flip-book feature.
Fans of Emmy and Raston will welcome their latest escapades. (Fantasy. 9-12)
