Adventure

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“The Phantom of the Subway” is a part of the Geronimo Stilton series, featuring Geronimo, a writer for the Rodent’s Gazette. There are over 30 books in the series. This book is aimed at 3-4 graders due to the level of writing and story complexion. Even when imagining through the eyes of a child, I found the story to be a little dull. It took some effort to get through this book because I was not interested in the characters, especially Geronimo, whom I felt was whiny. He Is pushed around by his cousin, Trap, who wants to swindle money from him in exchange for information on the story. I did not see this as good role-modeling from a main character. I saw no deeper message to this book. However, reading this book would be good practice for a 3-4 grader. Some redeeming qualities would be that many of the action words are in a font that represents what they mean and the book is complete with a map of the city and an “about the author” that is actually about the main character, Geronimo. I would put this book on my elementary school bookshelf but also have many other books that I feel are more captivating.
In this city of mice in a mouse-populated town, in the subway, the figure of a cat (that also may be a ghost) appears deep in the tunnel and causes an uproar. Geronimo and his crew of writers (along with his obnoxious cousin) sneak past police to try to get the scoop for their newspaper. They pass his nemesis Sally Ratmousen, the leader of their newspaper competition, who means trouble for them. Eventually they discover the truth, which is that the (phantom?) cat is actually a robot created by Professor Paws von Holt, one of Geronimo’s old friends who also appears frequently in the series. He used the cat to guard his other inventions, which Sally tries to steal. They thwart her and get the scoop they came for all along.

Not to be as silly as this book, but overall, I thought the story was pretty cheesy!
Lots of pun names with the words "mouse" and/or "rat" and lots and lots of cheese references! The story was long, but my 7 year old daughter loved it! And I really liked the style and fonts in the print - very engaging for young readers! I think my girl has become a fan, so I guess I will be too! Rats. ( )