Two lonely creatures find that companionship is closer than they thought in this charming tale of friendship This is the story of a writer and a reader. The writer is a person. The reader is a rat. They share an old house on Long Island, but have never met. How these two lonely creatures discover one another is the essence of this story. "Those with a love of words will enjoy the way Wersba shows Walter sneaking up on a friendship with the elusive but observant author. Like Richard Kennedy's Come Again in the Spring (HarperCollins, 1976) or Randall Jarrell's The Bat-Poet (S & S, 1967), this book gives readers some writing to remember and a chance to view the world from a different perspective." --School Library Journal * "A small but very nearly perfect gem." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review"Beautiful. . . . Moving and unpretentious. . . . Lovely." --Booklist Barbara Wersba is the author of thirty books for young people, including Tunes for a Small Harmonica: A Novel , a National Book Award nominee. A reviewer for the New York Times Book Review for many years, Wersba has also written for the stage and television. She lives in Sag Harbor, New York, where she runs a small publishing company called The Bookman Press. Donna Diamond has illustrated numerous children's books as well as many book jackets. She lives in Riverdale, New York.