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Reviews:
Bronte's Book Club by Kristiana Gregory
Cat and Mouse by Günter Grass
Destination Moon by Georges Remi Hergé
Doctor Who and the Three Doctors by Terrance Dicks
The Egyptian Box by Jane Louise Curry
Explorers on the Moon by Georges Remi Hergé
Fairy Glade and Other Enchanting Stories by Dawn Beaumont-Lane
Firehorn by Robert Reed
Fishing, for Christians by Tim Roux
The Girls by Helen Yglesias
The Glenn Miller Conspiracy by Hunton Downs
Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
Harriet's Hare by Dick King-Smith
I Spy Fantasy by Jean Marzollo
Land of Black Gold by Georges Remi Hergé
The Motorman's Coat by John Kessel
The Mouse, The Cat and Grandmother's Hat by Nancy Willard
Murder Mysteries by Neil Gaiman
Mysterious Magical Circus Family Kids: The Chocolate Cake Turkey Lip Crumb Trail Mystery Adventure by R. Hawk Starkey
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
One Bright Star to Guide Them by Mark C. Wright
Poor Puppy by Nick Bruel
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
A Rebel in Time by Harry Harrison
Retrograde Summer by John Varley
The Second Ship by Richard Phillips
The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson
She and I: A Fugue by Michael R. Brown
The Vicar of Nibbleswicke by Roald Dahl
A Walk in the Rainforest by Kristin Joy Pratt
Warrior from Heaven by Kermit Zarley



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Cat and Mouse: 07/26/09

Cat and Mouse is an early novel by author and poet, Günter Grass. It's the second book in the Danzig trilogy. It's a German coming of age novel set during WWII and it reminds me quite favorably of John Knowles's novel A Separate Peace (1959).

The unnamed protagonist says early on that the book isn't about himself but instead about "The Great Mahlke." Mahlke was a childhood friend known for his big adams apple, the screwdriver he wore around his neck and his love of swimming.

Although the book is set during the war, much of the book is spent reminiscing about summer days swimming out to a sunken Polish minesweeper. While the boys sat on the top of the ship, Mahlke would dive down into the ship to salvage whatever he could find: cans of food, an old gramaphone, and so forth.

Like Finny in A Separate Peace, Mahlke is a bit of a rebel. He's later expelled from school and again like Finny, doesn't make it to the end of the book. While Mahlke's disappearance is more open ended than Finny's death, it's implied that he died in the war and that the Iron Cross is being awarded posthumously.

The other two books in the trilogy are The Tin Drum (1959) and Dog Years (1963).

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