Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It will be released October 15, 2019, by Algonquin Young Readers.

kit, deliberately spelled with a lower case k, for numerous reasons, lives with her agoraphobic mother. K.I.T. stands for keep it together, her mother’s mantra before kit was born. When kit arrived her mom thought she was too tiny for a capital letter. Her mom was once a famous singer, but her mental illness has become so debilitating that kit has to take care of everything to do with life outside their apartment complex. To add to this, kit has alopecia universalis. This means she has no hair anywhere on her body and is often mistaken for a cancer patient. It’s already a lot for a young person to deal with.

The book begins with kit watching her best friend, Clem, and her acrobatic family on a reality TV show, where they hope to win the most talented family in America prize. When Clem falls and is injured, kit becomes so stressed that she transforms into a naked mole rat.

Clem ends up spending a lot of time in the hospital before she can return home.

A year later, we discover that both of the girls are changed from this experience. Clem deals with her trauma by transforming into an angry goth girl. kit’s anxiety, and her transformation, seems to have increased along with her mother’s agoraphobia.

Rivers takes us into the headspace of the two girls in alternating chapters through third person narrative. Since the accident they have been unable to share their most important secrets and this ends up creating unspoken conflict between them.

Before the book begins, Clem and kit were part of a tight group of friends that included Jorge, Clem’s twin brother, and Jackson, whose mom looked after kit when she was small. Something happened between Jackson and kit that created a division in the group. We don’t learn what this is until the book is well under way. Finding their way back to who they used to be means they all have to learn to listen to each other in new ways.

Karen Rivers has created a quirky, middle grade, coming of age novel. The friendship issues are authentic for the age group. I just needed to love these characters more than I did right from the start. I trust Rivers enough as an author to keep reading and eventually I came to care about them, but it wasn’t till I was well into the book. Then I couldn’t stop reading. I’m not sure younger readers will wait that long. My other quibble with the book is that although I ended up enjoying this, Rivers has given her characters a lot to deal with. It seems like too much to me.

Book: Naked Mole Rat Saves the World
Author: Karen Rivers
Rating: 2 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank Algonquin Young Readers for providing me with this ARC.

This is probably the strangest book I’ve read in a long time. I honestly have never read anything like this or so far out there. Now, this does not mean that this is a bad book, but it does take some getting used to. I also didn’t know that this was magical realism when I started. I’m honestly not a fan of magical realism; it’s really hard to me to get into.

So this book is a middle grade book, but like with some many other middle grade books as of late, it features a lot of well-developed characters and a complex plot. I did personally enjoy some elements of this, but at other times I didn’t. a lot really wasn’t explained for much of the book. The author expects you to know what is going on and just go along with it. I guess this is why I’m not sure a huge fan of this genre; I enjoy world building and I really want to see it in all of my books.

The characters are really fleshed out, which is also something that I liked. I like how we knew a lot about some characters, but others we really didn’t know anything about. It really added to the whole world building aspects and actually made me keep reading because I had to know just what kind of a role these characters were going to play.

While the writing style was really enjoyable and simple, there were a lot of elements that just didn’t really make sense or were fleshed out a lot. I feel like had we had more detail, things would had felt better…If that makes any sense…It’s quirky and out there, but it just felt like there wasn’t enough there. Okay, what I’m getting at is everything felt rushed, which made it kind of difficult to connect with everything.

I know a lot of other people have pointed this out, it’s the last hundred pages that really make this book. It just feels like that is the core of the story. However, with this being a standalone-I believe it is, correct me if I’m wrong-that is a big problem. I honestly feel like as a middle school teacher a lot of my students would DNF this book because of how the pacing is.

Anyway, this book comes out on October 15, 2019.

Kit-with-a-small-k is navigating middle school with a really big, really strange secret: When she’s stressed, she turns into a naked mole rat.

It first happened after kit watched her best friend, Clem, fall and get hurt during an acrobatic performance on TV. Since then, the transformations keep happening—whether kit wants them to or not. Kit can’t tell Clem about it, because after the fall, Clem just hasn’t been herself. She’s sad and mad and gloomy, and keeping a secret of her own: the real reason she fell.

A year after the accident, kit and Clem still haven’t figured out how to deal with all the ways they have transformed—both inside and out. When their secrets come between them, the best friends get into a big fight. Somehow, kit has to save the day, but she doesn’t believe she can be that kind of hero. Turning into a naked mole rat isn’t really a superpower. Or is it? - Goodreads

This was a hard read to get into. My biggest problem with this book was the transition when kit turns into a naked mole rat. It was not as clear as day that something was about to happen and because this was a big part of the novel, it bothered me. Like. . . it bothered me a lot. 

I felt that the author struggled with writing about a heavy topic and keeping it kid friendly. The author relies heavy on the naked mole rate on being the comic relief of the story and it doesn't exactly swing well. 

Overall, this just wasn't my cup of tea. 

1 Pickle

NAKED MOLE RAT SAVES THE WORLD tells the story of kit, whose name is lowercase because she was too small for an uppercase letter. Her mother was a famous singer whose anxiety now keeps her indoors, and her mother named kit after the tattoo she has that is keep it together (k.i.t.), a mantra which kit frequently repeats. Kit has a rare condition where she doesn't have any body hair, and her mother has fondly called her a naked mole rat.

Kit actually hates being called that, as she has told her BFF, Clem. Clem and her brother Jorge frequently hang out with kit, and they are part of an acrobatic family act. Until, that is, Clem falls onstage and is injured during the show The Most Talented Family in America. Since then, Clem has been different. Since then, kit has been having panic attacks, where she thinks she is actually turning into a naked mole rat and which she worries will become like her mother's.

They are all on the cusp of being teenagers, and this also brings its own challenges and changes. Navigating school and their home lives is hard enough- adding on the friendship troubles may be too much.

What I loved: The book portrays mental illness in a way that is understandable for the middle grade audience, and I think this was done well (depression, anxiety in particular). Kit and her friends are really relatable, and their struggles will certainly help children to empathize. The book is fast-paced and engaging to read. The plot carries forward easily and is certainly intriguing with many interesting bits about changes and challenges of growing up and dealing with friendship evolutions. Kit also acknowledges that hurt people hurt people, which is a real piece of wisdom that can be imparted on the reader and also help them to empathize with others.

What left me wanting more: While there is good representation and portrayal of people with mental illnesses, these are not really visibly treated (particularly for Clem who is struggling with depression and not sure how to reach out for help). It would have been great to see more about therapy or treatments, and/or at least to see Clem figure out a way to ask for help.

Final verdict: Overall, this was an engaging and fun read, perfect for the middle grade audience. Recommend for readers looking for a heartfelt book about growing up, dealing with mental illness, and navigating evolving friendships.

Please note that I received an ARC through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I have to admit, I was lost for the first half of the book. The story was a little slow and lacking enthusiasm, but once I passed the half way mark, I really felt involved in the characters. I wish I would have felt that from the beginning. There was a lot going on with the story. Friendship, depression, mental illness. These thing are very relatable to kids these days and I think my 11 year old would love to dive into this book.

Review will go live 10-9-2019

This book was weird, and I can tell it'll be a huge hit with my elementary schoolers. They love that silly, magical realism piece.

This is an odd book, but no disrespect intended, Karen Rivers' last four or five books are quirky and odd. Kind of like A.S. King, they are not for everyone, and may be an acquired taste. At worst, you could say it is a weird book, but its my kind of weird and I know students who would agree. They are also fans of Karen Rivers books such as The Girl in the Well is Me, A Possibility of Whales and Love Ish.

This particular book deals with themes familiar to those of us that read MG like friendship, coming-of-age, and change in terms of individual and family. It also has topics that have become more prevalent (and rightly so) such as mental health. Sometimes late tweens and teens seem angry at the world, unable to deal with the rapid change around them, and feel not at all like themselves. Most of the kids in this book have all of those things going on, but they figure it out by being honest with themselves and trusting the people they care about to talk with them.

Sometimes, people going through periods of rapid change push people away but the kids in this story (eventually) realize that it is better to pull your people closer to you and that is when they find happiness and comfort in who they are. Of course, with a book like this, I could be reading way too much into it and be out in left field. When I read a book by Karen Rivers it is not always the smoothest, easiest road but I enjoy the trip.

I don't think I was the right audience for this book. Although I definitely enjoyed aspects of this story, particularly the ones that addressed mental health issues, the naked mole rat transformations lost me a bit.

I never really got into this book until the last 100 pages. I felt like the beginning was slow and confusing with the whole magical realism thing. That being said, I can think of some students who would probably like the motifs of magical realism, changing friend relationships, depression, and mental illness. That’s was an awful lot for one book to cover (and I didn’t even mention all of them) and I don’t feel like they are particularly well done because of that.

I absolutely adored this book. Plus it will be an easy hand sell with readers, which I always enjoy and appreciate.

I really enjoyed this book. I breezed through it and never got bored. I loved the lessons that is had to teach without being preachy about it. It shows kids that people's behavior can change due to what they are going through. That they can sometimes become hurtful because they are hurting. That instead of just becoming angry and ending a friendship, they should try to understand why their friend isn't who they used to be and help them if they can.

Kit and Clem feel like real people with real issues. They are not stereotypes, which is refreshing. Their inner thoughts are easy to relate to. Kit's mother's issues also illustrates that adults sometimes need help too, and the pressure that puts on their children.

I thought this was a great read and would recommend it to any kid who likes slightly weird, but still real feeling stories.

This was probably my favorite of Karen Rivers to date--it was full of voice and charm, and both kit's anxiety and Clem's anger felt all too real for middle graders.