The Mousehunter Book Review

The Mousehunter
Written and Illustrated By Alex Milway
Little, Brown and Company
2009
First published in Great Britain in 2008 by Faber and Faber Limited

Dedication: For Katie

Target Age Group: Boys or girls, ages 9 - 12

Must Read
Good Read
Could Read

Synopsis

12 year old Emiline had a dream job. She’s the mousekeeper for Isiah Lovelock, celebrated author of The Mousehunter’s Almanac and one of the richest mouse collectors in the world. He has Sharpclaw mice, Rook-Winged mice, Long-legged River mice, Messenger mice, Howling Scent mice, Whooping Brown mice, Weeping Tearjerker mice, and many, many more.

But what Emiline really wants to be is a mousehunter herself.

When Emiline learns that Isiah has hired Captain Drewshank, his ship and crew to capture the dreaded pirate Mousebeard, Emiline has to be on that ship. This is her chance for adventure.

With her pet Portly, an ordinary Grey mouse, adventure is exactly what she gets, along with sea monsters, capture, lies, curses and a close-up-and-personal encounter with Mousebeard himself.

Book Review

Alex Milway's debut novel is wonderfully charming. Mr. Milway has created an entire world around the concept of mousing – working with mice, cataloging mice, discovering new species of mice – and that the most sought-after careers have to do with this multitude of mice.

The book assumes this is the most natural existence for a society, and the explanations of the various types of mice and their usages in society are simply matter-of-fact.

The story wrapped into this world is engaging, adventurous and funny. It’s the adventure that dreams are made of – to sail the high seas in search of a dreaded pirate.

And with any good story, all is not what it seems.

This is the first book of a trilogy, but a complete and satisfying story in itself.

The illustrations add the perfect imagery to this world. Each chapter begins with a drawing of a specific species of mice, its description from The Mousehunter’s Almanac and Emiline’s notes about it.

The Mousehunter is well-worth the read, and I look forward to the next 2 installments of this trilogy.

Amazon Links

The Mousehunter (Hardback)
The Mousehunter (Paperback)


Characters

Emiline Orelia – 12 years old, and like most kids her age, wants to be a mousehunter. She’s the best mousekeeper around, in spite of the fact that she had only attended Fluffbins’ School of Mousekeeping rather than the prestigious Old Rodent’s Academy.

Isiah Lovelock – The author of The Mousehunter’s Almanac, the most authoritative book on mice ever written. He’s the wealthiest citizen of Old Towne, and has a collection of over 150 mice. But more than anything, he wants the capture of Mousebeard, dreaded pirate of the 17 seas.

Captain Devlin Drewshank – A handsome and striking man, Drewshank is the Captain of the Flying Fox, and a privateer, meaning he takes jobs on the seventeen seas from the highest bidder. And the highest bidder in this story is Isiah Lovelock, who wants him to capture Mousebeard, the dreaded pirate.

Captain Mousebeard – Although that’s not his real name, he’s called Mousebeard because he has several mice living in his massive, hairy beard. He’s a massive man who sends fear into the hearts of all sailors. His exploits are legendary, and he’s managed to evade capture for too many years.