LEGEND OF THE WHITE COCKROACH
by Bruce C. McCants
A white cockroach aspires to gain acceptance by humans and become a pet, not a pest, in this debut children’s book.
In an abandoned house live many cockroaches. One, Tuodi, is different from his cohorts: He’s white, sapient, and wants to be accepted by humans. When he glimpses a human house across the intervening Jungle of Insects, Tuodi is sure that living there would be marvelous. Other roaches warn him that “humans hate us,” but Tuodi sings to himself: “I’m gonna be a pet, not a pest. I will lose the letter s.” Tuodi makes a very dangerous journey through the jungle, which is controlled by powerful ant factions. In the House of Humans, Tuodi is almost killed, but Jay Anderson, an 11-year-old boy, wants to keep him, never having seen a white roach before. When Tuodi shows off his intelligence, Jay’s parents alert the government, which subjects the roach to painful testing. He survives, becoming “more powerful and wiser than all other insects.” Devoted to the Andersons, Tuodi is helpful around the house (finding keys, removing splinters, carrying notes); he also brokers a peace agreement with other insects. As the story ends, Tuodi has become a great insect leader, but more importantly, he has become a pet. In his book (appropriate for all ages), McCants has a tough sell in trying to make a roach, even one as special as Tuodi, an appealing companion animal. As Tuodi’s kin Mooko sings, “We’re pests, we’re pests. We can make an awful mess.” And it seems paradoxical, even unhealthy, that Tuodi would dream of being “perfect in all human ways.” Why should he not want to be perfect in all roach ways? They’re an enormously successful species. That aside, the tale has eccentric charm, many moments of bravery and heroism, and humor, as when Mr. Anderson tries to alert an indifferent Department of Agriculture: “Sir, would you be interested if I said I was planning to raise thirty million of them for pets?”
An amusingly quirky hero’s journey—though few will be convinced that roaches belong inside the house.