Space Station Rat

Space Station Rat #1

by Michael J. Daley

When a literate rat stows away on a space station in order to flee more experiments, a lonely boy befriends her and helps her get the food she needs to stay alive, but when she is discovered by the others, the boy must take a stand to help save his friend from her certain demise.

Genres: Science Fiction, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

I have enjoyed a life-long love of science, machines, and science fiction. These passions inform my fiction and non-fiction writing with a unique spirit. I am currently branching out with easy readers, the fulfillment of a long held dream begun with the discovery of the Frog & Toad books. My third passion is energy issues and with the help of my wife, Jessie Haas, we built a solar powered cabin in 1984 to nurture our budding writing lives just as our hero, Thoreau. I am available for school visits, presentations, conferences and workshops.

Reviews

[Shawn Ridenour · Rating 3 out of 5]

Space Station Rat was a very fun short adventure that bears a passing resemblace to a Rat of NIMH in space.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is best summed up as Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH set IN SPACE!

A great chapter book for young readers, full of wonderful descriptions of the senses and actions, making this world very real and tactile.

The story follows a lab rat who, after being experimented on, can now use higher level cognitive thinking, sign language, type, and write macros. Using her new skills, she escapes the lab, but accidently winds up on a spaceship and is now living on a space station, doing her best to avoid detection.

Meanwhile, a bored boy is also stuck on the space station while his parents frantically take measurements in relation to climate change. There are real high stakes here - not just the boy's boredom and one rat's survival.

Discovery of a rat onboard makes the entire crew freak out. It's a legitimate worry, given the equipment on board, but it does show how much adults can freak out disproportionally over one little pest. There's also a snarky robot rolling around, acting even more aggressive than the adults in the pursuit of the rat.

An unlikely friendship saves the day and, while it isn't a happily ever after ending, it does end with a lot of hope for the future.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very amusing book. I read the audio version, and the narrator did a very good job of giving different voices to the various characters, including the rat, and it made the book actually more amusing. Other than the fact that it took place on a space station, there really wasn't all that much science fiction in the tale, but it was still fun to read, so that makes it recommended to anyone who enjoys amusing stories with a science fiction backdrop. And, of course, it'd probably a great read for children (which of course it's targeted for), but even older readers should find it entertaining if nothing else.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story. I needed a short story to finish a road trip. This was perfect entertainment to pass the miles.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

April 2010 Cover to Cover Discussion title.

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to live on a space station? Jeff thought it was going to be awesome, full of excitement and special activities, like the space walk he and his Dad are supposed to be training for while Mom works on her super important solar data tracking. The truth: thanks to Mom’s assistant Doctor Krosta getting sick at exactly the wrong time, everyone, even Dad, is way too busy doing important science stuff to do anything else, especially anything that involves Jeff. Instead, Jeff is stuck with an annoying baby-sitting robot named Nanny. Jeff is bored out of his mind – until the e-mail from Earth arrives. “Hi! I am looking for a pen pal who lives in an unusual place. Your address seems unusual. Do you live in an unusual place? Are you looking for a pen pal? Write back. P.S. Do you like peanut butter???” Soon Jeff and his new pen pal are exchanging e-mails non-stop, but little does Jeff know that his pen pal isn’t on Earth. His pen-pal is right there with him on the space station. Rat turned the wrong way when she escaped from her laboratory on Earth and now she’s stuck on the space station and starving. Jeff is her only hope to survive, but Rat isn’t about to trust a human ever again so she’ll have to trick Jeff into helping her. Good thing Rat has some special skills like knowing how to type…

I really enjoyed this, but it was a bit of stretch for my 3rd and 4th graders to catch the nuances of emotion from the characters. They were mixed in their reviews - some found it totally boring, others thought it was pretty good and couldn't wait to read the sequel. I'd recommend it for 3rd through 6th graders who are looking for science fiction, but not as a first foray into the genre.

[Thistle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a strong high point: The animal's voice was perfect. I totally believed the main character was a (super intelligent, genetically modified) rat.

However, every person in the book was somewhere in the okay to god awful range. There were only four humans: the boy who finds the rat, his parents, and the captain. The captain got no characterization than "fat and useless," he only showed up in the story when conflict was needed. Every time he showed up, the author made sure to mention how fat and useless he was. The fat comments got really, really old. As far as I could tell, the parents didn't care one bit about the boy, they only focused on their work. (Their work may or may not have involved saving the whole planet, so some distraction would be understandable, but they acted like their kid was some stranger who was getting in the way of their work on purpose.)

The robot was the worst character though. How a robot could be so unbelievable, I don't even know.

The title explains the plot: A rat got onto a space station by mistake, and had to learn to survive there. That's really about all that happened, other than she became friends with the boy as well.

The book was very very light and somewhat cute. The rat character is the only reason I finished it, however she wasn't enough to make me want to read any further books in this series.

[Conan Tigard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Space Station Rat is a fun science fiction book that kids will enjoy. After all, what's not cool about a genetically engineered rat with lavender hair? Heck, I want one! As for the story, it is quick and entertaining. There is a lot of action in the story and it is interesting seeing the world through a rat's eyes, even if they have been genetically engineered.

As for Nanny, the menacing robot, there is obviously something wrong with it and it is not firing on all circuits. But if you look at it like she is just doing her job, then she really isn't evil, just thorough. It just so happens that her job is to kill the rat and save the space station from any more damage. Her other main job is to fix the space station when it is hit by a small meteor, which happens quite a bit. As for Jeff, he is a highly likable character that just needs something to do. The poor kid doesn't have anyone else to play with and sometimes finds himself in trouble because of it.

Overall, Space Station Rat is a great story that boys will love. So, if you are looking for a really cool science fiction story with a lot of action, pick up a copy of Space Station Rat today.

I rated this book an 8 out of 10.

[Liz Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent book for grade school or middle school kids! It's about an intelligent rat on a space station who stowed away when she escaped from a lab. She can type and speak in sign language. There's also a lonely, frustrated boy on the space station who gets an unexpected pen pal.

This wasn't super deep or full of serious trauma or gore. The writing style was okay! It was a quick read. Milo really liked it and brought it to me to recommend that I read it right away!

[Ethan Ahlstrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great. One I read the first page, I knew it was the thing I was looking for. The characters get very developed in the book, but it's very easy to understand what they're like. You can't tell exactaly what they're going to do because they are so real. It's not cartoony at all. Every was perfect, except for when rat hopped on the Keys and "wrote a macro virus". Just like that.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good book about the complications of living in space. I loved how the author added a lot of detail to this book but left enough room for some really suspenseful action. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good story, but it takes a small amount of space know-how to really understand everything going on.

[Jonah S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a good book because it said alot about space and i like space. it kept you on the edge of your seat the whole time. i think everybody will like this book. i loved it but not a super lot.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brief summary:
Jeff lives a lonely life on a space station with parents who are too busy with their scientific studies to give him any attention. He befriends a pen pal through emails and come to a shocking discovery that his pen pal is a rat aboard his ship!

[Friend of Pixie]

WHY: A lonely boy on a space ship finds an email pen pal. Little does he know that it's a lab rat who accidentally stowed away on the space ship! She's starving and not about to trust humans again after her lab time, so she's trying to trick him.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the sequel first, and I think I enjoyed that one a little more than the first volume. However, this title is a solid start to a series that I hope will give us Volume 3 sometime soon.

[Sylvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intelligent rat befriends lonely boy.

[Krystl Louwagie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made me miss my rat. It was pretty simply written, a book for younger audiences and didn't go too deeply into much. I think I would've liked a little more depth, loved the concept.

[Hoover Public Library Kids and Teens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook. Space station antics involving an escaped lab rat, a 12-year-old son of scientists, and a robot.

[LIZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

An eccelent book, the rat was an easy to associate with charactor, and the storyline was very well constructed.

[Mayumi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Livrinho curtinho e muito gostosinho de ler (eu ouvi o audiolivro, que é bem produzido e o narrador faz um bom trabalho com as vozes de cada personagem). Adorei a rata de laboratório.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another full-cast audio winner. The whole family loved this one.

[Joel Weinert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable young person's book.