Always Clementine by Carlie Sorosiak

She's a mouse. She's a genius. She's on the run.

Clementine is a mouse living in a laboratory. She has been breed to test intelligence. She has a super brain. But one of the lab workers is distressed by the cruelty to the animals as they are used for science experiments and so one evening he grabs Clementine and another mouse named Hamlet. He does not know where to take them without getting caught himself, so he ends up putting them into the letter box of a well-known television presenter. 

"Back at the lab, I had many theories about the Outside: what would it smell like (fresh), what would it taste like (woodchips but woodier.). I wondered if the Outside was just another series of boxes, a maze within a maze. But it isn't. It's open! It's wide!"

Pop, the owner of the letterbox, is a former chess champion. His grandson Gus has come to stay for the Summer. Pop has given up chess and he won't explain why. Gus is a keen player but at Pop's he has to play by himself until they both discover Clementine is a genius and brilliant at chess. She is also a fugitive. How can Pop and Gus save Clementine and her friend Hamlet and can they also save the other poor mice back in the lab?

This lab does not just have mice, though. Clementine has a best friend at the lab - a chimpanzee named Rosie. Clementine is so desperate to return to her friend but she also discovers the scientists have plans to dissect her brain so returning is way too dangerous. All Clementine can do for now is write letters (in her mind) to her best friend. That is the structure of this book - it is a series of letters from Clementine to Rosie - a blow by blow account of her six days of freedom.

Do you see my five stars for this book? I read this whole book (308 pages) in one sitting. I highly recommend you add this book to your library shopping list. It might also be a terrific class read aloud for Grade 4 or 5. 

Starting with the adorable cover, this is a book that is sure to appeal to animal lovers and may turn some of them into activists. Kids Book a Day

Friendship and love are key in this poignant, sometimes gently humorous book, as are the importance of social justice and what true goodness really means. Be prepared to lose your heart to Clementine as she bares her soul in her letters. Red Reading Hub

Publisher blurb: I am an optimist. A very difficult thing to be, sometimes, at three inches tall. Clementine is a genius. She can calculate pi to 69,689 places, remembers the exact moment she was born, and dreams in Latin.  She’s also a mouse.  And when she escapes from the lab which has bred her, Clementine discovers that it’s not enough to be the smartest mouse in history if she wants to survive in the real world – especially while the scientists who kept her are trying to recover their prize specimen. So, together with her new human friends, Clementine must find a way to earn her freedom – for good.

You can hear the first chapter here.

Book Depository blurb: Clementine is different from other mice: she can calculate the speed of light and she dreams in Latin. The scientists say she's a genius and put her through test after test. Clementine is proud of being a good lab mouse, but she's lonely. Her only snatches of friendship occur during her late-night visits with a chimpanzee named Rosie. When a compassionate lab technician frees Clementine, the mouse discovers an outside world full of wonders: Brussels sprouts, games of speed chess, television fame, and a chance for a real home. But for Clementine, it's not enough to be free when she knows that Rosie and the other mice are not. 

Here is another cover from the hardcover edition - I prefer it - do you?

The most obvious book to link with Clementine is The One and Only Ivan.  Other companion reads are:

Word of Mouse

Mousenet

The Umbrella Mouse

A couple of years ago I read another book by Carlie Sorosiak - it's another five star book. Here are the US and UK covers:

I, Cosmo

When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle

All over Britain children are being evacuated to rural towns but not Joseph. His grandmother sends him to London to live with Mrs Farrelly. Mrs F comes from a family that owned and ran a zoo. Now that Hitler is sending bombs every night most of the zoo animals have either been sent away or sadly destroyed. The only animals still needing care are a couple of camels, some birds, two wolves and an old silverback gorilla named Adonis. 

Joseph feels rejected by everyone. His grandmother has sent him away.  His mother left when he was just five. His father has joined the army. School is hell. Joseph is regularly bullied and he simply cannot learn to read.  The words dance around on the page. 

Life in London takes on a new pattern. School is worse than ever but after school Joseph and a young orphan girl Syd help care for the remaining zoo animals cleaning their cages and scrounging food. Each evening when the bomb raid siren sounds, Mrs F heads to her zoo. Joseph is so distressed to discover she goes there to shoot Adonis. At first Adonis terrifies Joseph but over the weeks he comes to form a very special bond with this huge creature. Mrs F holds a gun during the bombing because she knows if the zoo is bombed and Adonis is set free everyone will be in danger. She does not want to shoot this noble creature but she might be forced to do this terrible thing. 

The young boy in this book is at times so astute about the emotions and motivations of others but he also totally misunderstands at crucial times and worse he never stops to think about his own reaction to events and others. I have never read a book filled with so much anger. I knew I was in safe hands or I hoped I was in safe hands with Phil Earle and that all of this would be resolved but the anger is so unrelenting in this story that at times I just had to put this book down. I think I almost held my breath for 257 pages of the 302 desperate for Joseph to open up to Mrs F. Desperate for Joseph to understand and accept the kindness of others. Hoping Joseph could rid himself of his terrible guilt and sense of worthlessness. 

Here are a few text quotes to give you a flavour of this writing:

"He had no idea why this woman had volunteered to take him in, or of the link that existed between them, but she clearly knew he had no mother; he saw it in her eyes. And her knowing bothered him."

"He didn't want to be here; in this room, this house, this city, but like everything in life, it seemed he had no choice in how it played out. At the same time, deep in his gut, he knew he was to blame."

"He didn't like the way she spoke, as if she knew exactly what was going on up there. And he certainly didn't like her talking about her dad. She didn't know him, about how Joseph missed him every day, not how angry he was that he hadn't been there when he really did need him."

"Today was different, for as Joseph crouched on his haunches facing Adonis, he felt the ape's fingers brush his. Joseph swallowed a gasp as a jolt of electricity ripped through him. It was thrilling."

"Joseph's heart rattled like a snare drum, then threatened to explode as Adonis patted his head gently, not with one hand, but with both. He felt tears spring into his eyes at the gentleness of the act, then fall down is cheeks as Adonis lifted his chin, resting Joseph's forehead against his own."

"Mrs F had no idea how to tell him, what words to use, or even how to think about calming him afterwards. How do you hold a boy together, when he was already broken? There were already too many pieces to manage, without dropping and damaging even more."

You can hear Phil Earle talking about his book. The publisher lists this book for 9+ but I think this is a book for an older reader 11+. Here is the US cover:

An unusual, moving war story with excellent writing and compelling characters. Kirkus

This is a beautifully written historical adventure story that will take readers on a very emotional and exciting journey. The pace is fast and the feelings run high. The reader ends up fighting for Joseph and Adonis all the way – and this book is almost impossible to put down. Book Trust

The deep anger and tense emotions in this book reminded me of The Night Bus hero.

The Lost Whale by Hannah Gold illustrated by Levi Penfold

Rio's mum is very unwell. Rio has been coping with his mum and her strange behaviour all his life. Rio desperately wants his mother to be happy and he thinks it is up to him to make this happen. But now things have become way too hard for his mum, who is a concert violinist. His mum needs to go and stay in a special hospital in London and Rio is sent to Los Angeles and into the care of a grandmother he does not know.

His grandmother gives Rio a box of bis mother's treasures. Inside the box he finds a drawing of an amazing whale. It is named White Beak. Rio has very mixed up emotions and he is unable to communicate his fears to anyone but he is sure if he can find this whale his mother will be well again and they will be united. Luckily he is now living near the ocean and equally luckily he finds the perfect friend. Marina is the daughter of a man (Birch) who runs the local whale watching business. 

I did read The Lost Whale in one sitting and I enjoyed it but in some ways this book feels very similar to others with this same theme of healing a parent with mental illness; the dangers of ocean pollution and plastic to wild creatures like whales; and the journey of a young child as he tries to heal the hurt from the past. It felt a little too obvious to make Rio's mood match the mood of the ocean and a little contrived perhaps when he found the whale and then dived into the open ocean to have a special moment with this majestic creature but I don't think young readers 10+ will notice those tiny issues. At times I found Rio was little too angry and selfish especially when his grandmother was so kind and patient with him, but I enjoyed the final scenes where Rio, Marina, Birch (her dad) and his Grandmother (Fran) head out to find and ultimately rescue their precious whale. 

The theme of saving and being saved is definitely evident here, whatever your age. The adult will go on from thinking it's a book about saving the mother to saving Rio, but there is also the aspect of saving the whales and the entire ocean. The Book Bag

This book does contain references to mental illness but it is not as confronting as The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson. Rio's confusion is very similar to Jack in the book Small as an Elephant. My advance copy of The Lost Whale says this book was published on the 3rd March but I see from an online bookseller it will actually be released on 4th May, 2022. 

The Lost Whale is a companion volume (although this one has different characters) to The Last Bear. One special feature of both books are the splendid illustrations by Levi Pinfold. 

Look for these if you enjoy The Lost Whale:

The Truth of Me (absent parents who are musicians and an important grandparent)

Small as an Elephant

And two picture book companions would be:

The Whales' Song

The Tale of the Whale