Secrets at Sea (review)

Ever since their parents met untimely demises (Father in the jaws of a barn cat, Mother at the bottom of a rain barrel), the Cranston family of mice has looked to Helena, the eldest sibling, for guidance. Helena has done quite a competent job, wrangling her youngest brother into acceptable behavior and soothing the worries of her sisters, all while putting food on the table and keeping the mice out of sight of the Upstairs Cranstons (the human ones). Now, however, their host family is setting sail for Europe, taking with them the mice's source of food and warmth. Seeing no alternative, Helena rallies her siblings and decides to brave the big blue, stowing away on a ship that will have all the Cranstons, human and rodential, arriving in London just in time for Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. The ensuing maritime romp is fraught with aristocratic machinations, romantic bumblings, and serious danger in the form of a one-eyed killer cat. Helena's wit is as quick as the breathless pace of her adventure, and her narration has all the class of a well-to-do lady of her time (even if that lady happens to be a rodent), with a dash of merriment for good measure. Peck's mice are unabashedly anthropomorphized, and animal-loving readers will delight in the mousy world he creates, complete with thimble-sized chamber pots and miniature dresses fashioned from handkerchiefs, while the historical setting is a natural complement for these prim and proper rodents. Readers who like their animals cute, their history entertaining, and their endings happy will find full satisfaction here.