With the Courage of a Mouse

by Donna Sager Cowan, Diane J Reid (Illustrator)

Overview

Catt the cat is without a home or even a real name.  After she is dumped in an alley, snarling dogs chase her straight through a hidden portal and into Sweet Meadows. 

 

Catt sees a mouse fall from the sky. He’s not just any mouse, he is wearing a vest and coat. 

*          *          *

 

Simon Cheddar is a mouse with a plan. He’s also a collector.  He likes to recycle, but he feels safer with full pockets. Simon wants to be a Superhero, so he enrolled at the Superhero School in Sweet Meadows. Today is his first class and he doesn’t want to miss a thing.

 

*           *          *

Outside Sweet Meadows, in Mouseville, Simon’s home is attacked by cats. Everyone suspects Catt, except Simon.

 

Did she do it?  Or, is she being set up? 

Find out in, With the Courage of a Mouse, The Superhero School series.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781640853843
Publisher:	Donna Sager Cowan, Author
Publication date:	11/13/2018
Series:	The Superhero School , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	204
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	6 - 12 Years

About the Author

As the youngest child in a large family, Donna felt lost in the crowd. She entertained herself by making up stories and friends to play with. By age 5, Donna had taught herself to read, and that began her imaginative journey to dreamy castles with princes and fairy godmothers. Donna is a grandmother, random fact-finder, and encourager. And, yes, she believes she's a superhero. She lives in California with her family and four cats. (Sadly, no mice like Simon.) Follow The Superhero School series at DonnaSagerCowan.com

Editorial Reviews

04/27/2020

Sager Cowan’s twisty middle grade debut features unexpected friendships and a delightful mix of mystery and adventure. Simon Cheddar, a quick-thinking, resourceful mouse, is escaping from a hawk when he runs into Catt, a skittish cat who’s been abandoned by her humans. Impulsively, Simon invites Catt to join him on his first day at Superhero School, a class for young animals who want to be heroes. Catt and Simon quickly become best friends, and Simon cautiously introduces her to his friends and family in hidden Mouseville. Everything is going well until other cats attack Mouseville. The mice blame Catt and banish Simon, who sets out to prove his friend’s innocence.

Economic anxiety drives the story. Catt is traumatized by life as a starving alley cat, impoverished city mouse Ricky despises and envies the “soft” country mice of Mouseville, and meerkat butler Nigel longs to be his own boss. It’s not clear why this anthropomorphic paradise is so riddled with inequality and privation. No one questions the school’s peculiar policy barring orphans from attending, even when it puts Catt—who “refused to be property again”—in an impossible quandary: allow a cat she doesn't know to become her adoptive parent, or give up on school and live on the street. Homelessness is treated as a plot point, not a societal ill. Given the constant mentions of wealth and poverty, the lack of analysis beyond compassion being good and greed being bad feels like an oversight.

Sager Cowan makes the many characters distinct, aided by Reid’s sometimes clumsy but colorful illustrations. Superhero School classmates Patty Porter, a tech-savvy pig, and Freddy Flickerson, an agile frog, help Simon crack the case. Without pontificating, Sager Cowan clearly teaches readers about accepting and trusting others who come from different backgrounds. This series starter is filled with mystery and a lot of heart.

Takeaway: Tween readers will enjoy this warm-hearted mystery’s memorable animal characters and imaginative setting.

Great for fans of Gigi Priebe and Daniel Duncan’s Adventures of Henry Whiskers series.

Production grades Cover: B Design and typography: A- Illustrations: B Editing: A- Marketing copy: B+

BookLife Reviews