about the book
“Ratscalibur dreams, Ratscalibur sleeps… / Till babies hunger, mothers weep. / Then will a hero sword up-take … / Ratscalibur sings! Rascalibur wakes!”
When Joey and his mom move to the city, Uncle Patrick gives Joey a pet rat. At least it’s better than a goldfish, right? It’ll just sleep a lot instead of swimming around.
But then the gray rat begins talking and bites him on the finger, transforming Joey into a three-inch tall rodent! All the city smells he found repelling the day before are like perfume now. Who knew a chicken bone and a squashed cockroach smelled so good?!
Eventually, Joey’s empty stomach leads him to pull a spork from a scone. It’s the sword Ratscalibur and Joey is the rats’ foretold hero!
In order to save the kingdom of Ravalon, Joey has to find Squirrelin the Sqaugician. That’s easier said than done—the cats and crows are bent on destruction! Plus, he needs to figure out how to become human again…
Is Joey up for the quest?
about the author
While at Harvard, Josh Lieb was an editor for the college’s humor magazine, The Lampoon. Since graduation, he’s written for The Jon Stewart Show, NewsRadio, and The Daily Show. He’s even written for The Simpsons!
Currently, he is the Producer and Show Runner of the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which makes sense because Josh is such a funny guy.
His humor can be found for younger audiences in his two books: I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President and Rascalibur. Since Josh has always been fascinated with Arthurian legends, basing Rascalibur off a dumb pun seemed appropriate: “The spork in the scone” vs. “The sword in the stone”…Yes, please!
Josh lives with his wife, two children, and lots of animals.
Sources:
Author biography: Penguin
Author biography: IMDB
Author interview: Entertainment Weekly
Author interview: Nerdist
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