"The Mouse and the Motorcycle" by Beverly Cleary

A Review by Ivor

Suspense: When Ralph fell into the wastebasket, I was wondering what would happen. Would Keith or his Mother find him. I knew something would happen to the motorcycle, when he was riding it up on the desk. At the end  I thought Ralph would go back to the pillow case to find the motorcycle but instead, he went and found an aspirin for Keith.  very good.

Character Development: I got to know Keith and Ralph who were the main characters. I didn't get to know the other characters as well. I think Keith and Ralph started out as having a deal but ended up looking out for each other as friends. When Ralph's Father climbed the phone cord and  fell into the waste paper basket, he was taken outside and never seen again; then I knew why Ralph's mom was a widow who worried a lot about her son. fairly good

Important Lessons: The lesson or message learned by the characters was the importance of loyalty in friendship. The lesson ,for me, the reader  was to be determined to reach your goals. Ralph's main goal was not to be seen by humans at first, but it changed to wanting to help keith because he was sick in bed  o.k

Imagination: When the Author described Ralph going out the window to get the aspirin, she described the branches and the trees so you could imagine what it looked like. The setting was good. I could see a picture in my mind of the Hotel room where a lot of the story happened. The hallways and elevator were well described.   excellent

Difficulty: The story was pretty easy to follow, only a few words were difficult. Sometimes at the end of  chapters, it felt like I might have skipped a page, even though I hadn't and the next chapter would have continued on, but not from where the last chapter left off. This was a little confusing but not too bad.  fairly good

Overall  recommendation: I would recommend this book to other grade fives because I felt that it was a great story.