BOOK TALK - MouseHeart

Mouseheart by Lisa Fiedler

From the summary on Amazon:

Hopper is just an ordinary pet shop mouse before he escapes. Soon he finds himself below the bustling streets of Brooklyn, deep within the untamed tangles of transit tunnels, and in Atlantia, a glorious utopian rat civilization.

But all is not what it seems. Though Hopper is treated as a royal guest, he misses his siblings that he lost in the escape attempt. That, and Atlantia is constantly threatened by the rebels who wish to bring the city to its knees. And there are cats everywhere in Atlantia, cats that leave the citizens unharmed… and no one can seem to answer why.

Soon, Hopper is caught in the crosshairs of a colossal battle, one that crosses generations and species. As the clashes rage, Hopper learns terrible, extraordinary secrets: Deadly secrets about Atlantia. Painful secrets about his friends.

And one powerful secret about his destiny…

Some days, you just want to read something that really scratches a familiar literary itch and calls back to nostalgic days. As I started reading Mouseheart by Lisa Fiedler, this was distinctly how I felt. This is a newer book, the first in a series, published in 2014, and yet it harkens back to the kinds of books about animals that I read growing up. Redwall, The Wind in the Willows, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, and many more were sprinkled throughout my childhood and teenage years, and Mouseheart hits on so many notes while still being original that it’s astonishing.

Most of the classic anthropomorphic children’s fiction themes are here. You have a society of talking animals that live just out of sight of modern day human beings, living beneath the subways of Brooklyn. The animals also have to interact with and form their own understanding of various human devices like subway trains, abandoned subway stations, and litter. There’s actually a really fun scene that almost seems to call out to the cliché, where a rat is selling discarded human memorabilia and coming up with obviously outlandish or incorrect stories about their origins. Also, like many classic talking-animal novels, there is a healthy amount of interaction between predators (cats) and their natural prey (rats and mice), with moments that prove some stereotypes false and others true.

Rounding out these classic anthropomorphic animal story traits, we also have many marks of classic adventure and fantasy stories. There are kings, princes, and hidden away kingdoms along with rebel armies and prophecies and good old-fashioned swordplay.

So, after hearing about all of this, I suspect many might be already thinking, “I’ve read this story before” and might throw Mouseheart aside as a novel that’s one of many in an abundant fantasy genre.

If you did that, however, then I would have to say that you’re doing yourself a gross disservice and would be missing out on a fantastic and enjoyable story! Mouseheart is an extremely well-written story that knows the genre well and gives its audience exactly what they’ve come for while also offering new ideas and bringing about a feeling of timeless wonder which I feel has been strangely lacking in most modern day anthropomorphic animal fiction.

Exploring Atlantia was probably one of my favorite parts of the book.
The wonderful art throughout also made for a very enjoyable journey!

This is not to say that the book has no problems or negative aspects to it, of course. In fact, one of its most notable factors contributes to one of its biggest problems. Mouseheart, as I’ve said, has the hallmarks of many great anthropomorphic animal stories and fantasy adventure stories… and that unfortunately means that the book’s plot is also extremely predictable. I don’t mean to spoil the entire story, so I won’t list all of the predictable story moments, but I think it’s safe to say that most readers that are at all familiar with young adult fantasy can guess them off of the tops of their heads and be correct.


Main character is a central figure in some ancient prophecy? Check.

Budding love interest that blossoms by the story’s conclusion? Check.

Parents are dead or at least assumed dead at the start of the story? Check.

Misunderstandings are the central reason for many of the main points of conflict between characters? Check.

All you've gotta do is put some mouse ears and a tail on Taran...

It’s hard to read through Mouseheart and not be constantly cognizant of the tropes and trappings of its genre and not comparing it to other works. Yet, as I said above, I believe that Mouseheart overcomes the problems this could be by embracing its nature fully and still telling a tale that’s all its own.

Hopper, the main character, is not the strongest or the smartest, and, unlike many mouse heroes before him, he’s most certainly not the bravest or most selfless either. Hopper is a character with many flaws. He lacks understanding of the world around him, and he can truly be very childish and selfish with the choices that he initially makes and continues to make as the story goes on. By the story’s end, Hopper does grow as a character, but he still has many of his flaws and has grown in spite of them rather than completely overcoming and replacing them. It’s the personal lessons that he learns, especially the aspects of what bravery and heroism truly mean, that make Hopper a more complete character and eventually a hero. What’s more, Hopper is clearly not done maturing yet by the end of the story, giving him greater room to grow in future installments.

Outside of the characters, the setting itself most certainly takes center stage. Although it starts humbly in a pet shop in Brooklyn, the story quickly expands into the tunnels beneath and to the fantastical kingdom of Atlantia. The way that forgotten parts of a city are reimagined as mysterious and awe-inspiring locales is one of the major ways that Mouseheart and creates the wonder that I’ve mentioned.


All in all, Mouseheart feels like a story from a classic era of anthropomorphic children’s literature, but written with modern audiences in mind. It tells its tale well and creates a story that feels timeless, which is something that I haven’t been able to say about much modern literature that I’ve read. I would highly recommend it to fans of the genre and anybody who’s looking for an enjoyable read in children’s literature or fun fantasy in general!

Until next time, happy reading all!


-Chammy


Currently reading:


The Echoes of Those Before by James Daniel Ross