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Title: The Year of the Rat
Author: Clare Furniss
Narrator: Billie Fulford-Brown
Format: Unabridged
Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
Language: English
Release date: 11-04-14
Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC
Genres: Teens, Ages 11-13
Publisher's Summary:
The world can tip at any moment... a fact that 15-year-old Pearl is all too aware of when her mom dies after giving birth to her baby sister, Rose, who looks exactly like a baby rat, all pink, wrinkled, and writhing. This little Rat has destroyed everything, even ruined the wonderful relationship that Pearl had with her stepfather, the Rat's biological father. Told across the year following her mother's death, Pearl's story is full of bittersweet humor and heartbreaking honesty about how you deal with grief that cuts you to the bone, as she tries not only to come to terms with losing her mother, but also the fact that her sister - The Rat - is a constant reminder of why her mom is no longer around.
Critic Reviews:
"...strong new voice in Young Adult Fiction." (The Guardian (UK))
"Crisply told...there's a lot of heartbreak in Clare Furniss's book, but the story is lightened by humorous touches." (The Telegraph (UK))
"Beautifully written with a dry sense of humor." (Stylist Magazine (UK))
Members Reviews:
Four Stars
Lovely story covering loss and grief in a teenage girl. Well done Clare.
I need a mop for all my tears.
How do I even talk about this book? How about: leave me alone to cry. (That could be it's alternate title, actually.) You know those books that kind of stab your heart and then watch you shatter...and wait until the last 20-pages to fix you? This little beauty is one of those.
I admit, though, the title threw me. There is nothing Chinese about this book. Not even Chinese food. Which is a pity. The title is perfectly clear once you get reading, but it does feel misleading to me.
It is also extremely depressing. It's about grief! Trust me when I say, there are books about crying and then there are books that make you cry and then there's just crying. I AM CRYING, OKAY? So much pain. I've read a lot of books that deal with the topic of grief. Pearl loses her mother, really unexpectedly, and the book is about her journey through grief. No bandaids. No cuddles to stop the pain. There is just pain pain pain, and it's realistic. It felt so real and so heartbreaking. I'm absolutely drained, because I just experienced it all with Pearl.
That's good writing, okay? Let's not mince words: this book is excellently written. See? I'm using "excellently" because this book is also British. Very Brisith. (Which I love, because it smells a little bit like home. Except for all the tea drinking.) Are you in pain? Tea. Are you sad? Tea. Are you a stranger who knocked on my front door? Tea.
Pearl is a really icy character. She had the tendency to be annoying, but I was too busy being in her shoes and feeling her pain to be ticked off. She's quite cruel, really, in her pain. And seeing her thaw from the frost seems like it's never goooing to haaaappen. Smite me. I've never had a close family member or friend die, so I can't possibly know what it's like -- BUT, reading this? It really understood Pearl. I understood her cruelty. I understood her hate. And then this quote:
"He said maybe sometimes, when people lose someone they love, it's like they die too. It's like perhaps that's the only way they can stay close to the person who's gone. They stop living."
I'm done. Grab a mop for my tears, okay?
Despite being about dead people, this book is surprisingly funny.
