The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (2001) Terry Pratchett (Author)
Award Winner
The town of Bad Blintz is a very bad place for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents to pull off their final "pied piper" scam. Along with a pennywhistle-playing youth named Keith, the title characters excel at con artistry and make a comfortable living. But all except Maurice begin to feel guilty about fooling townsfolk into paying to rid themselves of a nonexistent rodent problem. Even without these scruples, the situation they encounter in Bad Blintz is more than enough to end their careers. Crooked rat-catchers there run their own scam, creating an artificial food shortage they blame on rat infestation and supplying ferocious terriers in local rat pits with captured rodents to chase, which horrifies the educated (Changeling) rats. Maurice, Keith, and the mayor's daughter Malicia discover the fetid, fearsome cellars that hold proof of these schemes but are themselves caught by the rat-catchers, along with the Changelings' aging leader, Hamnpork. Maurice escapes, and eventually, against his better judgment, joins the daring rescue attempts. Can fast-talking Maurice, deliberative Keith, and the courageous rodents survive a scam much bigger than their own?
MAIN CHARACTERS :
Maurice, Cat (talking), Con Artist, Dangerous Beans, Rat (talking), Philosopher, Con Artist, Peaches, Rat (talking), Con Artist, Keith, Young Man, Con Artist, Musician, Captive (rat-catchers'), Malicia, Daughter (mayor's), Detective--Amateur, Captive (rat-catchers'), Darktan, Rat (talking), Mechanic (disables rat traps and detects poisons), Con Artist, Hamnpork, Rat (talking), Leader (aging), Con Artist, Sardines, Rat (talking), Con Artist
GENRE :
Fantasy fiction, Horror stories
SUB GENRE :
Humor, Young Adult
SETTING(S) :
Bad Blintz, Fictional City, Fictional City
SUBJECT :
Allegories, Domestic cats, Courage, Crime, Criminals, Ethics, Fairy tales, Fantasy, Food, Horror, Humor, Philosophy, Problem solving, Rats
TIME PERIOD :
Indeterminate AD
Gale Document Number: GALE|M1300115795
Gale Database: What Do I Read Next?, 2010
SOURCE CITATION : "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents." 2010. Books & Authors Gale. Gale Internal User. 2 Sep 2010 <http://books.wiseto.com/bna/start.do?p=BNA&u=gale>
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