Mortimer: Rat Race to Space
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Mortimer: Rat Race to Space
“This is a huge problem.” My feet sail toward the camera. “The space station is not meant to be a giant flying closet. That kind of storage doesn’t exist up here. Second…”
Boris is drawing a paw across his throat. I stop talking.
“How about adding that astronauts wear the same clothing for several days before tossing them out? What about how clothes up here don’t get as dirty as they would on Earth? Also, you should say they don’t sweat a lot doing everyday work since it’s so easy to move things in a weightless environment?”
“Why would I mention those things?” I let one paw go and swing at an angle.
“To be fair.” Boris presses his lips together.
“Rats have been treated unfairly since the beginning of time. I don’t think it’s up to me to be fair.”
Boris’s tail goes as straight as sword. “Good reporting gives all the facts.”
“What if you do some videos in Russian? Then you can say what you want.” As soon as the words pop out, I’m sorry.
“No thanks,” says Boris. “I like to stay behind the scenes.” He waits. I wait. Boris has an intense stare. I sigh.
If I’m not fair, people might not take me seriously. Gorgonzola will be right. No one will listen to me.
“I want my reporting to be good.” I grab the wire with both paws again, and Boris taps record. When I add his points, his tail relaxes, and I continue.
Mortimer the lab rat has big ideas for the future of space exploration, and they don’t include humans. Mortimer thinks that rats, not humans, are the ones who should colonize Mars because rats don’t do silly things like eat all kinds of different foods or wear underwear. And he’s going to tell you all about it on his YouTube channel!
But first he has to get to space to prove his point. To do this, he has to beat his other lab rat friends (and his not-friend, Gorgonzola) in the maze race to get to the International Space Station. Mortimer is so dedicated to his cause of going to space and making humans see the value in rats that he cheats in the maze race to beat Gorgonzola. Even though the other rats don’t really like Gorgonzola, Mortimer broke one of the rat code rules which makes everyone mad at him. He feels bad, but he gets to go to the ISS!
Before Mortimer leaves for his first space mission, he manages to smuggle a small video camera into his cargo. He and his Russian space station rat friend, Boris, team up to show that rats are much better suited to colonize Mars than humans. To do so, the two new friends start pulling pranks on the human astronauts, mischievous acts like hiding their underwear and all their food except for prunes, and then recording how the humans react when they are without these things that rats don’t need. Through Mortimer and Boris’ hijinks, Mortimer ends up going on a spacewalk with one of the humans, and the two of them have to work together to get back to the space station without any communication. From this event, Mortimer learns that perhaps humans aren’t so bad and that human and ratkind can work together to colonize Mars.
Mortimer’s story is a ridiculous tale filled with rat puns, pranks, and a whole lot of fun. Readers who have a love of space will find well-researched facts spread throughout the story in a way that is informative but not overwhelming. It’s clear that Galat has a love for space and science, and she shares that love with her readers through Mortimer’s adventures. Galat’s writing talents also lie in her action sequences. Mortimer’s shenanigans constantly land him in places where he shouldn’t be, and Galat’s writing relating to Mortimer’s misadventures with humans, owls, and gophers are engaging and exciting to follow along with.
Another highlight of Mortimer’s story is his own character growth. Mortimer’s incessant need to prove that rats are worthy of praise stems from his abandonment by a previous owner who didn’t appreciate all the things rats could do. Through his space adventures, Mortimer learns to appreciate that not all humans are like his previous owner and that, even though humans do silly things that rats don’t, humans can still help to colonize Mars with rats. Mortimer also learns to be less selfish in his endeavors involving Boris’ help. Boris wants to help Mortimer with his mission, and, at first, Mortimer is determined to do it alone, but he eventually sees that Boris has skills and opinions that Mortimer doesn’t, ones that help Mortimer to do things he couldn’t on his own. Mortimer also helps Boris overcome his fear of earthly predators, showing Mortimer’s growth from the selfish rat that would sabotage someone else to get what he wanted, to someone who can see the value and help that others offer.
Mortimer’s adventures provide an exciting and funny story for readers to follow along. With a narrator like Mortimer, readers are never bored and are always laughing at his jokes and pranks. Galat has written a story with an extremely loveable nar-rat-tor, a character readers will remember for a long time to come.
Deanna Feuer is an English Literature graduate from the University of the Fraser Valley. She lives in Langley British Columbia and is currently studying Library Sciences.