Mousenet by Prudence Breitrose - OPTIONAL

Breitrose, Prudence.  Mousenet, illustrated by Stephanie Yue, 389 pages.  Hyperion Books, 2011.  $16.99.  Language: G; Sexual Content: G; Violence: G.  Megan Miller is ten and is just back from a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean where she helped her mother research sheep.  She doesn't fit in, but she has been able to enjoy herself with her uncle who likes to invent small things.  This time, the two of them have created the thumbtop--a miniature computer that requires a magnifying glass and a pin to work.  When Megan's mother heads off to Australia and can't bring her daughter with her, Megan must go live with her dad in Oregon.  But she at least gets to take the thumbtop with her.  This sounds all kinds of alarms in the mouse nation because they have been getting more and more excited to get their paws on the thumbtop because they want to be able to surf the web freely (without having to fear a cat or a broom to whack them).  They hatch a plan to approach Megan, and get a thumbtop into every mousehole.    This book was okay.  At times, I really found myself caring what happened to Megan and the mice.  But other times I was annoyed by the writing and the lack of conflict and rising action.  Plus, I felt like I was reading a sermon about how important it is to save the planet.  I'm all for saving the planet, but when I read a book about little mice wanting to get computers so that they aren't eaten, then I don't want to read about how humans are destroying the earth.  I think Ms. Breitrose should have stuck to the story more, and then written an article for National Geographic about what we can do to save the planet.  Someone else might like the book more than I did, but I can think of better ways to spend your money and time than buy and read this book.  EL(K-3), EL - OPTIONAL.  Brent Smith, Reading Teacher