Thomas, Rob. (1996). Rats Saw God. New York: Simon and Schuster, 202 pp.

Grade Range: 10-12

Genre: contemporary fiction

Summary and Critique

Rats Saw God tells the story of high school student Steve York. As a senior at a California high school, Steve has retreated into"burn-out" status despite being awarded a National Merit Scholarship. Prior to his senior year, Steve was a straight-A student living with his former-astronaut father in Houston, Texas. Steve spent his sophomore and junior years in Houston making friends and falling in love for the first time. But something happened to make Steve head for the West coast, to live with his mother and sister and leave it all behind. The story unfolds as Steve writes about his experiences in Houston—a 100 page manuscript assigned by his guidance counselor that when completed will grant Steve the one English credit he is lacking for graduation. As Steve struggles with the assignment as well as with putting his life back together, the reader finds out more about Steve's bitter relationship with his father, his friendships with members of "GOD," the dadaist group (the"d" in GOD) from his former school, and his experience with first love, Dub.

Rats Saw God is honest and its characters realistically endearing. It would be an asset to any high school English classroom. Many students will relate to or identify with some of the familiar adolescent themes throughout the b4teens_book. However, due to some adult themes, including a sexual affair between a high school teacher and a student, this book might be more appropriate on an individual reading list instead of being taught to the entire class.

Themes/Topics

Families

Friends and Enemies

Challenges and Triumphs

Love, Sex, and Romance

Author Information

Rob Thomas wanted to be a writer since he was a child. A Renaissance man of sorts, he is the writer of five books, several screenplays and a musician. He has also taught journalism for five years.

For more information on Rob Thomas:

http://www.robthomasproductions.com/ Biographical and bibliographical information about Rob Thomas and his novels, respectively.

Media Connections

Movies

Can't Hardly Wait (1998) Comedy about high school graduation and future decision making.

Clueless (1995) Plot includes high school characters, love, school groups and organization,"burn-out" character who gets his act together.

Heathers (1989) Deals with high school cliques and peer groups, and parent relationships.

Better Off Dead (1985) High school comedy about heartbreak, betrayal, future decision making, and school groups/cliques.

The Breakfast Club (1985) Five very different Teens learn about relationships, friendship, love, and cliques while serving detention together.

Television

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (WB)"Choices" episode. 4 May 1999. Main character faces difficult choices about college and boyfriend.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (WB) "Lover's Walk" episode. 24 Nov. 1998. Deals with high college board test scores, heartbreak, and betrayal.

Online Resources

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/fall98/wilder.html The Alan Review. Advice and book suggestions from teachers who have used young adult literature in high school classes for over 20 years.

http://www.ala.org/BookLinks/Index.html Book Links is a magazine designed for teachers, librarians, library media specialists, booksellers, parents, and all other adults interested in connecting children with high quality books.

http://www.seemore.mi.org/booklists/fiction.html Booklists: Fiction. Check out the if you liked Rats Saw God, you'll like… list.

Related Texts

Spinelli, Jerry. (2000). Stargirl. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 186pp. A unique girl who had been home-schooled discovers popularity and painful ostracism when she enters a public high school.

Salinger, J.D. (1951). The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, and Co. 277pp. A teenager riddled with angst is expelled from prep school.

Nikkah, John, and Leah Furman, eds. (2000). Our Boys Speak: Adolescent Boys Write About Their Inner Lives. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. 192 pp. Non-fiction written by young men ages 12-18. Includes essays, journal entries, poems and stories. Boys express anxiety about popularity, sports and girls. *some adult content.

Tom, Karen, and Kiki, eds. (2001). Angst!: Teen Verses From the Edge! New York: Workman Pub. 140 pp. Sixty poems organized under topics like,"Society and Ills,""Crushed," and"Why me?"

Franco, Betsy, ed. (2001). You Hear Me: Poems and Writing by Teenage Boys. Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press. 128 pp. Emotional works dealing with anger, love, jealousy, drugs, family, rejection, bullying, conformity and being gay.

Patnaik, Gayatri, and Michelle T. Shineski, eds. (2000). The Secret Life of Teens : Young People Speak Out About Their Lives. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco. 208 pp. Revealing report of what Teens are thinking, feeling, and doing, written by Teens.

Teaching ideas

(1)"Dadaist Art" Students can report the book by creating their own dadaist art. Students can present work in any form. Suggestions: video, film, print, painting, etc. (Goal: creativity, understand text)

(2) "Change of Perspective" Students select a sub-character from the book: (i.e.: Sarah, Doug, Dub, DeMouy, the Astronaut) and a scene with that character, then rewrite that scene from the perspective of that character. (Goal: characterization, point of view, perspective)

(3) "Create Your Own Club" Students come up with their own fictional school club by answering the following questions: if you were going to create your own school club, what would it be called? What would people in your club do? Would your club participate in school activities or not? Would your club be serious or a joke? What motivation might you have to create this club? (Goal: creative writing, characterization)

(Review written by Kristen Meyers and edited by Jennifer E. Moore)