The Black Paw (Spy Mice)
Grade 4-6–Ozymandias Levinson's problems are far more severe than his mouthful of a name. His father, always jumping from job to job, has just landed a position at Washington, DC's International Spy Museum and Oz has a hard time fitting in. So when a run-in with two bullies brings him into contact with a real spy, he's delighted. Her name is Morning Glory, and she's a clever little field mouse in the middle of a critical assignment. The mice of the world are involved in a kind of Cold War with their rat enemies, led by the unscrupulous and rather disgusting Roquefort Dupont. When he steals the Kiss of Death (a lipstick-sized gun), Glory teams up with Oz for help. Referencing every example of pop-culture espionage from James Bond to Emma Peel, this amusing adventure is sure to catch the eye of those kids already familiar with the spy genre. The book follows in the footsteps of such other rodent undercover works as Margery Sharp'sThe Rescuers(Little, Brown, 1959), though sadly it lacks the charm of a Miss Bianca to set it apart. Also, as with multiple references to Glory's elegant nose, the book has a penchant for repetition. Frederick is to be commended for the factual information included (since both the Spy Museum and the Kiss of Death exist), though here's hoping that future books in this series are more satisfying than this airy concoction.–Elizabeth Bird, New York Public LibraryCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.