Clarice the Brave

September 1, 2021
Mutiny on their shipboard home separates mouse siblings. Clarice and Charles Sebastian--the runt of the litter--have lived all their lives on the Carlotta. But after their mother is washed overboard, Clarice knows it's up to her to take care of Charles Sebastian, especially since her mother's last words were that she believed in her. During a mutiny, Clarice's crate is thrown aboard the launch along with the castoff human captain and crew, but Charles Sebastian is left aboard with the mutineers. Clarice is devastated to lose her brother and horrified to discover that Special Lady, the ship's cat who ate her sister, is in the launch as well. Dire need forces the cat and mouse to collaborate, as the launch runs out of food and water and people start dying. All the while, Clarice worries that Charles Sebastian won't survive by himself, and she vows to find him again. Adventures follow, the narration going back and forth between the siblings. The relationship between Clarice and Special Lady is very well drawn, as is Charles Sebastian's unusual friendship aboard the Carlotta with Benjelloun, a 12-year-old girl chained in the brig by the mutineers. However, Clarice's repetitious rumination on her worry for Charles Sebastian and her mother's final words eventually become threadbare prompts, blunting the theme's impact. Human characters read as White. Final illustrations not seen. A bit repetitious but a fine, unusual story altogether. (Adventure. 8-12)

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October 4, 2021
Delicately balancing hope and despair, McMann (the Unwanteds Quests series) lovingly brings to life the tale of ship’s mouse Clarice and her runt-of-the-litter brother, Charles Sebastian. Life aboard a ship at sea is all that cunning, pragmatic Clarice and intelligent yet impulsive Charles Sebastian have ever known. While they have plenty, dangers abound—including the “three horrid ship cats,” one of whom devoured their sister; disease, which killed their other siblings; and unexpected waves, which took their mother, leaving them with only each other. A mutiny, however, sets the siblings on a bleak, wondrous journey of self-discovery, as they search for one another and find salvation in the most unlikely places. Leaning heavily on the theme of loss, the novel normalizes feelings of sadness and grief for younger readers, relayed in an assured tone and elegant prose. Caparo’s full-page, fine-lined b&w illustrations emphasize the relationships from varying, carefully sketched angles. Told from the shifting viewpoints of each mouse, the narrative keenly focuses on the obstacles placed in their paths and the growth processes—both the positive and negative—each must follow to find their way to a new normal. Ages 8–up. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

October 1, 2021
Grades 3-6 Clarice the mouse lives aboard a sailing vessel with her brother, Charles Sebastian, avoiding humans and felines. After whispers of mutiny spread below deck, mutineers set the captain and his comrades adrift in a small launch, and a panicked Clarice is separated from her brother. She ends up on the tiny boat, along with the captain's fearsome cat, but as the situation worsens, the desperate animals come to a shaky understanding. Meanwhile, Charles Sebastian receives a crash course in survival on the larger vessel, finding an ally in a young girl. Can the separated siblings find a way to reunite? The rodents split storytelling duties, alternating between cozy details of their small vantage points on the terrifyingly vast sea and occasionally misunderstood human world. There is real peril and death on the water, but the delicate cat-mouse and mouse-girl relationships are a joy to watch unfold, and a recurring theme of the power of belief in oneself and others is a cheering antidote to the bleak circumstances. An absorbing adventure from an unexpected perspective.

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