For Oz Levinson, life is always the same. No matter what school he goes to, it's always sharks -- bullies -- versus everyone else. What would Oz's hero, James Bond, aka 007, do? He would make mincemeat of the sharks. But Oz is no 007 -- more like double-o-lard.

Then Oz meets Glory Mouse, a skateboarding private eye trying to take down the evil rat leader, Roquefort Dupont, and Oz is swept into a exciting world of espionage. But this is no make-believe movie. It's real life: mice vs. rats, kids vs. bullies, good vs. evil.

And all the power lies in one paw.

Spy Mice: The Black Paw

ANNOTATION

Two fifth-graders who are the targets of bullies and a mouse spy who has not only lost her job but is also on a mobster rat's hit list, meet at Washington D.C.'s International Spy Museum and go under cover to help each other out.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

> At the Spy Museum

> creatures of all sizes are stirring

> twenty-four hours a day.

> Join skateboarding Private Eye Glory Mouse

> and double-o-detective a.k.a. Oz Levinson

> in an undercover tail.

> It's mice vs. rats

> Kids vs. bullies

> Good vs. evil.

> And all the power lies in one paw.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Launching the paper-over-board Spy Mice series, Frederick's (The Voyage of Patience Goodspeed) capricious caper stars a spunky mouse who rides a skateboard fashioned from a Popsicle stick and a plump, insecure boy whose hero is James Bond. Glory, a field agent for the Spy Mice Agency, works at headquarters located behind-the-scenes in Washington, D.C.'s International Spy Museum. Fifth-grader Oz's father runs the museum's caf . After a chance encounter there, the two share their respective dilemmas. Glory has found in her mailbox the "Black Paw," a symbol that she is marked for death by Roquefort Dupont, leader of the rat underworld whom Glory believes has assassinated her father. Oz dreads the museum's upcoming Halloween masquerade ball, where he fears he will be humiliated by two bullies at school. When Kiss of Death, a pistol from the museum that Glory is on a mission to deliver, winds up in Dupont's hands, Oz and his female friend, D.B., help Glory sneak into the rat's lair to retrieve the weapon. The author keeps more surprises in store, and in the zany finale, the kids and Glory team up to foil Dupont's plan to eradicate the mice-and they also make a laughing stock of Oz's tormentors. Frederick fills this farfetched yarn with engaging banter and entertaining particulars about the Spy Mice's inventive modus operandi. Comport's full-page half-tone illustrations bring the characters and dramatic moments to life. This tale of tails will especially tickle aspiring sleuths. Ages 8-11. (July) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-Ozymandias Levinson's problems are far more severe than his mouthful of a name. His father, always jumping from job to job, has just landed a position at Washington, DC's International Spy Museum and Oz has a hard time fitting in. So when a run-in with two bullies brings him into contact with a real spy, he's delighted. Her name is Morning Glory, and she's a clever little field mouse in the middle of a critical assignment. The mice of the world are involved in a kind of Cold War with their rat enemies, led by the unscrupulous and rather disgusting Roquefort Dupont. When he steals the Kiss of Death (a lipstick-sized gun), Glory teams up with Oz for help. Referencing every example of pop-culture espionage from James Bond to Emma Peel, this amusing adventure is sure to catch the eye of those kids already familiar with the spy genre. The book follows in the footsteps of such other rodent undercover works as Margery Sharp's The Rescuers (Little, Brown, 1959), though sadly it lacks the charm of a Miss Bianca to set it apart. Also, as with multiple references to Glory's "elegant nose," the book has a penchant for repetition. Frederick is to be commended for the factual information included (since both the Spy Museum and the Kiss of Death exist), though here's hoping that future books in this series are more satisfying than this airy concoction.-Elizabeth Bird, New York Public Library Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.