Nostalgic Friday: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Welcome back to Nostalgic Friday! Since I love all things historical (culturally, physically, and personally) I do a post on Fridays honoring some awesome book that is a bit older. Many of them are books I enjoyed in my teens and others are books that I discovered as an adult that I think are relevant to YA readers.

This week I'm so happy to feature the 1971 classic Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien. This book is one of the originals that was part of the "creatures of intelligence" theme in children's fiction. Think about it: the "Redwall" series, Animal Farm, Charlotte's Web, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Stuart Little, etc. How can you resist this summary?

There's something very strange about the rats living under the rosebush at the Fitzgibbon farm. But Mrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse with a sick child, is in dire straits and must turn to these exceptional creatures for assistance. Soon she finds herself flying on the back of a crow, slipping sleeping powder into a ferocious cat's dinner dish, and helping 108 brilliant, laboratory-enhanced rats escape to a utopian civilization of their own design, no longer to live "on the edge of somebody else's, like fleas on a dog's back."

From Goodreads

This was such an amazing storyline; so compelling, interesting, and funny. Mrs. Frisby was such a resourceful, kind character that I really loved to read about her. Her interactions with the extremely intelligent rats were fascinating to watch unfold since the rats were genetically altered. The rats had been experimented on by a local science lab and after a daring escape, they settled beneath rosebush on the Fitzgibbon's farm. Their lives took the same shape as humans as they had electricity and could even read. As they got older and had children, their abilities expanding and they passed on their knowledge. It was fascinating!

Honestly words don't really do this book justice. It's a timeless classic that can't really be summed up very well. I hope y'all decide to give it a chance.