For readers in the 9-12-year-old zone, what could be better than a new book by double Newbery winner Lois Lowry (鈥淣umber the Stars鈥� and 鈥淭he Giver鈥�)? In Bless This Mouse (Houghton Mifflin, 160 pp.), Lowry (along with Caldecott winning illustrator Eric Rohmann) tells the story of Hildegarde, an oh-so-correct church mouse who must save her 鈥減eople鈥� from their worst fear (鈥渢he Great X鈥�) even as a pushy rival tries to grab her place as lead mouse. Lowry has created a gentle page-turner, with a sweet cluster of characters at its core.
