Mystery of the Burmese Bandicoot (Tails of Frederick and Ishbu Series) Book

This is the tale of two rat brothers who live in a cage in Miss Dove's fifth-grade classroom. One day, Millicent Mallory leaves the cage door open, and the rest is history...

Frederick is the brave one. Ishbu is the hungry one. They are happy living in Miss Dove's classroom, where they can learn - and eat - to their hearts' content. Then the faithful day arrives when class bully Millicent Mallory and hear "toadie", Kay Serah, teach them the meaning of the word... extermination! No sooner have the rats fled the school than they embark on the wildest adventure of their lives. They follow the trail of the Burmese bandicoot, a beautiful and mysterious statue, from the underworld lair of the Big Cheese to a tropical island that may not be the paradise it seams. The brothers' trip around the globe by paw, air, and sea reveals how much they still need to learn about friendship, family and what they value most.

Sheila FiscusCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal

Gr 3-5
Brave Frederick and his timid brother are pet rats in Miss Dove's classroom. When Frederick bites a cruel student who is harming Ishbu, they are threatened with extermination and flee to the outside world. They are captured by the Big Cheese, a blind possum who hates humans and runs San Francisco's rodent underworld. He offers them rewards if they can steal a gem-encrusted bandicoot figurine, but the brothers refuse and manage to escape, boarding a ship that eventually sinks in a storm. They are washed ashore on an island dedicated to the Hindu rat goddess Karni Mata, where the rat high priestess shows them their talisman-the coveted figurine, which, as it turns out, contains poison that can wipe out the human race. After a few twists and turns, the brothers realize that they must somehow return to San Francisco to save humankind from danger. The story has too many coincidences to make the events believable, even for a fantasy. The author occasionally insinuates her voice a bit too much into the narrative, presenting facts that are intrusive to the plotline and do not further the story. Children might enjoy the nonstop action and Frederick's problem-solving ingenuity, but discerning readers will be disappointed by the many contrivances.