Naked Mole Rat Saves the World

August 1, 2019
Kit and Clem are best friends, and both are dealing with life-changing adversity. Kit is tiny and afflicted with both alopecia universalis (a complete lack of hair that strangers interpret as a result of chemotherapy) and a dysfunctional mother who named her "kit"--not Kit--as a reminder to herself to "keep it together." Clem, a member of her Latinx family's acrobatic team, is badly injured during a televised performance. Once she's recovered from the worst of her injuries, Clem endures her distress by taking on an angry goth identity that contrasts sharply with her previous image. Meanwhile, kit, who is white, copes with anxiety (mostly caused by her mother) by turning into a naked mole rat (the ugly animal her mother often compares her to) and scurrying for cover--or so she believes. The girls' stories are presented in third-person chapters that seamlessly alternate, not only providing an intimate view of each character's largely hidden despair, but also revealing their bemused, mostly concealed judgments of each other, as their coping mechanisms serve to drive them apart. A rich cast of secondary characters enhances the tale, including kit's mom's somewhat witchy helper and the young teens' former friend, a kindly boy who has many problems of his own. An author's note explores anxiety disorder. A warm coming-of-age story populated with a cast of memorable characters. (Fiction. 9-12)

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August 5, 2019
Eleven-year-old kit was so tiny when she was born that her single mother deemed her “too small for capital letters.” Since then, she’s been told two things about that day: diagnosed with alopecia, she “looked like a naked mole rat,” and her birth saved her mother, who suffers from acute anxiety. In Brooklyn, kit resents her mom’s inability to leave home and the savior role her mother has thrust upon her (“kit” stands for “keep it together”), especially after her best friend, Clem, is hurt performing on television with her acrobat family. This event changes both girls: Clem hides the secret of how she fell, and kit believes that she turned into a naked mole rat when she witnessed the tumble. The story picks up a year later, and both friends are still hiding their secrets. Together, they must find the courage to confront difficult truths. Rivers (The Girl in the Well Is Me) realistically portrays the challenge of living with anxiety and the pressures of family responsibility. Complex and moving, this story takes an unvarnished look at what it means to be true to oneself as well as loved ones. Ages 8–12. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary.

September 27, 2019

Gr 3-8-Kit (with a small "k") is a tiny middle grade student who harbors a secret: when she is stressed out, she turns into a naked mole rat, or so she believes. Afflicted with alopecia, kit is commonly compared to the unattractive animal by her mother. Having a dysfunctional mother only causes kit more stress. Clem, kit's best friend, is a member of her family's acrobatic team. After Clem becomes badly injured in a live performance with her family, she goes goth. Like many young people, kit copes with anxiety, which is mostly caused by her mother. Turning into a naked mole rat and scurrying for cover are her way of coping. Clem also hides secrets of her own. The two friends find it increasingly difficult to handle their transformations, and the transformations within each other. Readers might find this narrative difficult to follow. The beginning is slow, and the book's lighthearted cover does not convey the more serious themes. That said, students might enjoy the magical realism. VERDICT A secondary purchase for most middle school libraries.-Amy Caldera, Dripping Springs Middle School, Dripping Springs, TX

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2019
Grades 4-7 *Starred Review* Rivers (You Are The Everything, 2018) threads rich veins of metaphor and personal transformation into this tale of preteen trauma and recovery. Born prematurely and compared to a naked mole rat by her fond but seriously agoraphobic single mom, kit-with-a-small- k reaches age 11 small of stature, bald from alopecia, and often mistaken for a boy. Having cut ties with one friend, Jackson, who deals with the departure of his own dad by showing her documentary proof of her long-gone father's death and kept in a holding pattern with another, Clem, who is pretending to be all right but has been saddled with lingering headaches and depression since a serious fall, kit is short on confidantes when a panic attack temporarily turns her into a small, wrinkled rodent. Along with folding in this whiff of fantasy (kit's not the only character here who, at least seemingly, has an animal alter ego), Rivers handles all the domestic and interpersonal drama with a light touch that keeps things from turning soapy. kit turns out to be a steady, resolute protagonist?as she rightly affirms, naked mole rats may be homely but in several ways they are superheroes of the animal world. Readers will come away admiring her knack for resolving issues and conflicts.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)