Book Picks: "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck

According to Lemony Snicket, "If you don't like books by Richard Peck, there is probably something very wrong with you."  After reading "Secrets at Sea", I tend to agree.

This Victorian-era mouse adventure (aimed at girls ages 8 and up) is an "Upstairs, Downstairs" for children.  The human family live "upstairs" in the Cranston Estate, and the mice family lives "downstairs" within its walls, led by the eldest mouse sibling, Helena.

When the "Upstairs Cranstons" journey on an ocean liner to find their eldest daughter a husband in Europe, the "Downstairs Cranstons" take their fates into their own paws and stow away in the luggage.  When the future happiness of the Cranston daughters is put in jeopardy, can the mice help them find love and still find their own happy endings?

Children who enjoyed "Tale of Desperaux" by Kate DiCamillo will also enjoy this book.  It is part adventure, part romance and part fairytale.  The story contains a lesson for adults too, who may identify with Helena's inability to let go of her siblings (i.e. your own children).     

My only criticism is that the happy endings for the girls (both human and mice) involve budding romances or marriage proposals (in contrast the boy mouse's does not), but arguably that is consistent with the time period.  But overall, I give this book four mice tails out of five.