In a sidebar-style twist on the Cinderella tale, Pullman spins the story of one of the rats-turned-coachmen - only this one wasn't turned back into a rat. The boy turns up on an old couple's doorstep; they dub him Roger and take him in, but Roger is easily distracted or led astray - he runs away from school, is put into a freakshow, then broken free by a group of boys who work as a team of thieves. Joan and Bob search for Roger, as the Daily Scourge whips everyone into a frenzy, and the government decides there must be a trial before the "monster" rat-boy is exterminated. Ultimately, it's the Joan and Bob, and the princess Aurelia (or is it Mary Jane, from the kitchen?) who save Roger from death.

Quotes

Everyone had an opinion, and the less they knew, the more strongly they expressed themselves. (122)

"See, I don't think it's what you are that matters. I think it's what you do. I think they'd like me to just be, and not do anything." (princess to Roger, 159) ( )

Colleen (age 7) rates this book 10 stars. (“Five is the maximum? Then five.”)

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It's been a long while since I've read a Pullman story. I am going to have to read more. I enjoyed this little tale. ( )

A charming little story told in Pullman's clear style, with a clever, laugh-out-loud twist at the end. ( )

One night a strange boy arrives on Bob and Joan’s doorstep – he claims that he was a rat, but that he has recently turned into a boy. This boy also claims to know the new princess…who isn’t who she says she is. The story follows "Roger" though his troubles learning to be a boy and how others view him: a carnival attraction, a terror, a budding thief, or a confused little boy in need of a good home.

The fairytale connection wasn't as strong as I expected it to be. It was more of a coming of age (kind of?) book than a fairytale. Amazingly, Roger was very believable as a past rat/current boy...there was just enough innocence and rattiness :) ( )