RAT BOYS: A Dating Experiment

Though screenwriter Eberhardt's zany plot makes no pretense at credibility, it introduces a witty, believable 15-year-old narrator whose language—liberally sprinkled with the kind of teen jargon that makes English teachers cringe—can be overheard at any mall. In a foreword, Marci explains that the tale she is about to relay, involving her best friend, took place a year earlier when the two were ninth graders: "This whole thing is really about the first dates me and Summer ever had in our lives, which were these two totally cool, cute beyond belief guys. I am not kidding about this—they were to drool and die for." And they are, quite literally, rats, turned into handsome humans with the help of a magic ring that grants the wish of the person wearing it—in this case Doris, the owner of an antique store for which Marci and Summer work part-time. Bribing the rat boys with food, the girls teach them to talk and dance in an attempt to pass them off as real guys at the town's annual spring dance and to show up their nemesis, a popular, picture-perfect classmate. As the ruse spins out of control, slapstick twists, snappy dialogue and wry asides from Marci create some laugh-out-loud moments reminiscent of a teen-targeted screenplay. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)