Review of "The Nutcracker Mice" by Kristin Kladstrup

I think I've mentioned this before, but my fabulous local bookstore, Covered Treasures, has a shelf of ARC's (Advanced Reader Copies). One of my son's loves the Nutcracker and this past fall when we were visiting the bookstore, The Nutcracker Mice by Kristin Kladstrup caught his eye. We picked up the book and brought it home to read together. It was an adorable book. See my full review below.

The Nutcracker Mice by Kristin Kladstrup
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"The Nutcracker Mice" was an adorable retelling of the Nutcracker from the perspective of the young rising ballet dancing mouse, Esmerelda. Esmerelda and the other mice that live under Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg in 1892 not only get to watch the humans perform the Nutcracker but they put on their own version of the ballet every year. This year the mice and ballet are in danger, which is the meat of this tale. The main plots includes lots of history, and in typical YA/MG fashion an unlikely friendship/partnership. Esmerelda meets Irina, a human nine-year-old child, and the two, albeit unlikely friends, especially since the mice were viewed as vermin, must work together to save the lives of the mice and their ballet.

My only real critique of this book is the difficult language. I have a BA in English and consider myself well read and had to look up a word or two myself. Also, the Russian names could be considered complicated for a YA/MG novel such as Lyudmila and Balalaika for example. Other than that this is a cute read that I would suggest to YA/MG readers, especially around Christmas/Nutcracker time.