‘Rat’ a book by Jan Cheripko

With guest reviewer RYAN SHERMAN

In the opinion of thirteen-year-old Ryan Sherman, an eighth-grade student at Wallenpaupack High School, local author Jan Cheripko has written a good book for young teens. “Rat” is a story about peer pressure, honesty and self-acceptance set around the sport of basketball and the proving ground of high school. I asked Ryan to summarize the story and to write about what he liked and disliked about the book. Following are his comments:

“‘Rat’ was about a 15-year-old boy named Jeremy Chandler who was born with a withered right arm. Jeremy loved to hang out in the gym a lot to play his favorite sport, basketball. He got the nickname, gym RAT, because of this. Jeremy witnessed an incident involving the team coach and testified against him in court.

“There is one kid that didn’t like Jeremy for telling the truth about the coach. His name was Simpson. He also didn’t like Jeremy because he didn’t fit in with anyone, so Simpson beats him up and does really mean things to him.

“The basketball coach didn’t care for Jeremy either, which made it difficult for him. However, this coach wasn’t going to have his job long because he was caught harassing a female student and got fired.

“Things look up for Jeremy when a new coach gets hired. Simpson did not like the new coach because of the new rules. The coach and Jeremy became friends and after practice Jeremy would help the coach with his work. After a couple months, the coach made Jeremy the Team Manager. The team wasn’t happy at first until they started to win games, then they decided they liked him.

“Simpson could not stand Jeremy being the team manager and picked on Jeremy even more. Simpson eventually got kicked off the team for doing this. Once Simpson was off the team, the team did a lot better in their games and respected each other. At the end of this book, Jeremy realizes that it is okay to be born with an abnormality and that everyone is different in their own way.

“The part in the story that I like is when the team started to accept Jeremy for who he was and not what he looked like. I also like the part when the coach stood up for Jeremy and did not ignore him. The part I did not like is when the team did not accept Jeremy because of what he looked like. I also didn’t like when Simpson did the really mean things he did to Jeremy.

“I recommend this book to adults and kids. It is a good book for kids to relate to. Adults would also be interested because it shows how kids get a lot of pressure from other kids.”

Cheripko is the former editor of the Sullivan County Democrat and teaches at The Family Foundation School for troubled children. His first novel, “Imitate the Tiger,” about a high school football player with an alcohol problem, won the Joan Fassler Memorial Award. Cheripko is also the author of “Voices of the River: Adventures on the Delaware.” “Rat” was published by Boyds Mills Press, the juvenile trade book publishing arm of “Highlights for Children,” based in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. For more information visit boydsmillspress.com.