The Naked Mole Rat Letters

by Mary Amato

Paperback, 2006

Status

Available

Call number

J4D.Ama

Publication

Scholastic Inc.

Pages

266

Description

When her father begins a long-distance romance with a Washington, D.C. zookeeper, twelve-year-old Frankie sends fabricated email letters to the zookeeper in an attempt to end the relationship.

Collection

Barcode

3333

Language

Original language

English

Physical description

266 p.; 7.6 inches

ISBN

0439865913 / 9780439865913

Lexile

670L

User reviews

LibraryThing member dawnwing
This is a children's title, and I picked it up because I was intrigued by the cover and title, and discovered a funny and wonderful novel that made me smile all the way through.
LibraryThing member abbylibrarian
When Frankie's dad starts long-distance dating a zookeeper from Washington DC, Frankie takes matters into her own hands by hacking into his email and writing letters to the woman. But things start to snowball from there and soon Frankie's caught up in a web of lies. How will she ever come clean?

I
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really enjoyed this funny, heartwarming story. Frankie's devious and self-absorbed, but she really grows throughout the story. The story's told through Frankie's diary entries and her emails back and forth with "Ratlady" (a.k.a. Ayanna Bayo, curator of naked mole-rats at the National Zoo).
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LibraryThing member ewyatt
Frankie feels like her life is falling apart and she doesn't even know who she is anymore. When Frankie discovers an email from the RatLady on her dad's computer, she goes from her straight-A goody goody ways and lies, cuts school, and causes all types of problems.
LibraryThing member garrity
Written through diary and email form, this book tells the story of Frankie Wallop, living with her father and two brothers, who intercepts an email to her dad from a woman (Ayanna a zookeeper specializing in naked mole-rats) he met on a business trip to DC. Frankie poses as her father responding to
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emails to thwart the relationship and tells lies at school as she tries to deal with her disappointment in not getting the lead in the school play and her father's relationship with "the rat lady." Frankie eventually comes to grips with her choices and consequences and learns all about naked mole-rats in the process.
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LibraryThing member jackiewark
The Naked Mole-Rat Letters begins slow, but in the end delivers a worthwhile message about judging people, friendship, and longing. Frankie lost her mother not too long ago and when her father begins having feelings for another woman, she acts out in strange ways. This star student lies, fails to
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do her homework, neglects her responsibilites at home, and starts hanging around with a boy who has a bad reputation. As she intercepts her father's email to "Ratlady", the new woman in his father's life, Frankie, at first, tries everything in her power to discourage their relationship by writing nasty, sassy emails back to Ayanna (aka the Ratlady). But, Ayanna turns out to be a wise and thoughtful woman and Frankie grows to cherish her conversations with Ayanna (even though she would never say as much) and relies on her wisdom. When Frankie's dad gets wind of these 'secret' conversations between Frankie and Ayanna, he ends the relationship. All of these events, and much more, make Frankie's dad realize he needs to bond more closely with his whole family, if they are ever to bring another person into their lives.
Mary Amato writes a thoughtful, touching story about feelings and loss with humor and compassion.
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LibraryThing member caro488
Amato, Mary, The Naked Mole Rat Letters, Frankie's dad meets a new woman and Frankie emails her to try to keep her away. Ayanna is the caretaker for naked mole rats at the Washington Zoo. Frankie learns a lot about families and communication.
LibraryThing member ErikaC24
This book is really good it is about this girl named Frankie and her dad worked for a buisness trip in washington and he met a lady that he likes and she works at a zoo for naked mole rats that she loves and they have a big emailing thing with the naked mole rat lady and Frankie does not like her
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so she tells her that her dad and brothers have sickning problems so she wont like her dad anymore i wouls recomand this book to girls but guys if you like these kinds of books go for it and read
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LibraryThing member GeeblesLovesBooks2
Summary: When twelve-year-old Frankie discovers that her widowed father is e-mailing a woman in Washington D.C., she loses it. It may be romantic to him, but to her it's just gross. And to make things weirder, the woman works in a zoo! A few e-mails pretending to be from her dad to the "ratlady"
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should end things pretty quickly.

One lie leads to another and then another. "Ratlady" sees through her. She gets into trouble at school. The "ratlady" explains to her that naked mole-rats defend their territory from intruders. That's all Frankie is trying to do. So why is it so hard?

This book suprised me in how much I liked it and why I liked it. I actually liked because it was told through Frankie's diary. That surprised me because books like that usually bore me. I don't know why, they just do. I loved how the author portrayed Frankie's emotions and how she added the e-mails between Frankie and Ayanna to add something a little bit extra. The only thing I really felt was missing was that at some points in the book, it said what Frankie did, but didn't go in depth in the situation. I felt that we could've understood the story more if they had added that detail. But, this is a book a I would definately recommend!

Keep reading!
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LibraryThing member bookczuk
Nice use of emails and text to illustrate some life-lessons and to tell the story of the growing relationship between a middle schooler, and her father's long distance new lady-friend.
LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
Funny, wise, short, heart-warming - just about a perfect book for me.?� Frankie is a little too self-centered imo; I would have liked to have gotten to know some of the other characters just a little bit better.?á Still, all of them were authentic, sketched clearly, with a firm enough outline
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that the reader can fill in that outline.?á There are even exciting bits and bits that brought tears to my eyes.?á Oh, and it's short, you can make time for it.

I liked how Frankie described her father, in the throes of falling in love, as: He sounds like someone who swallowed a soap opera."?á I liked how the dead mom was described in part by how she added personality to their home: "She ... lacquered old family photographs onto the dining room table so that we'd always be eating with the whole family."?á (I want to do that!)?á

And I like this, from Frankie:?á "[S]ometimes I stand still and imagine what it would be like to be deaf or blind.?á If I could see the creek splashing over the rocks and not hear it, would the creek look different??á Would I see more colors in the water??á If I could hear the treetops rustling in the wind and not see them, would the sound become visible in my mind?""
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LibraryThing member fingerpost
Frankie lives in a tiny town with her widower father and two younger brothers. She thinks things are going pretty good until her father is away on a business trip and meets a woman that he likes. Suddenly, Frankie envisions her entire world being turned upside down, and she starts going to great
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lengths to maintain the status quo. The formerly always-good Frankie begins reading her father's mail, cheating, lying, etc.
Ayanna, the woman his father has fallen for, works at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., caring for the naked mole-rats. Frankie begins emailing with Ayanna, to try to convince her to stay away from her family, but Ayanna turns out to be much smarter than Frankie would have expected.
The first half of the book shows Frankie's steady plummet into the depths of dishonesty, and makes her a less than likable character. The second half has a little more plot development and (of course) Frankie's eventual redemption.
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LibraryThing member lanapetersen
REALY omg i loved it too

Rating

½ (75 ratings; 3.9)

Awards

Sequoyah Book Award (Nominee — Children's — 2008)
Utah Beehive Book Award (Nominee — Children's Fiction — 2007)
William Allen White Children's Book Award (Nominee — Grades 6-8 — 2007-2008)
Mark Twain Readers Award (Nominee — 2008)

Call number

J4D.Ama
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