Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright's novel, meant for readers ages 8 to 12, is subtitled "A Dickens of a Tale." A further hint lies in the book's first lines: "He was the best of toms. He was the worst of toms." The story follows animals living at an pub called Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (an actual historic London eatery) that once boasted Charles Dickens as a patron. In Deedy and Wright's story Dickens likes to come and write. His journal entries observe that something's going on between the house cat named Skilley and the mice at the pub. And what do you know: There's also a mouse named Pip.
