'Rats of NIMH' doesn't judge

'Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH' By Robert C. O'Brien

Recap: The Frisby mouse family comes upon hard times when their cinder block house is going to be plowed over while the youngest of the family is too sick to leave the nest. Mrs. Frisby is advised by an owl to seek the help of a group of rats who turn out to be escaped lab rats from NIMH. Why we loved it as kids: It's about talking rats! And they don't just talk, they are fugitives living in a bush with elevators built inside it. "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" turns an ordinary farmhouse backyard similar to any a bored kid might be living next to into a jungle of intrigue and secrets. It's an amazing world for a kid to enter.

The book takes the underdogs - in this case the under-rodents - and makes them into heroes who work together to save the Frisby family.

Why the book - and the acronym - should interest us now: NIMH, though never mentioned in the book, is the acronym for the National Institute of Mental Health, an actual site where animal testing goes on. When Robert O'Brien penned this book, he did it with an intention to explore the ethical and political implications of animal testing, as well as write a neat story where talking mice ride on an owl's back.

First published in 1972, the book's view on animal testing might be seen as out of date, since so many more regulations exist for testing on animals now. But, O'Brien's points are definitely still valid and encompass much more than one issue. The intelligence the rats acquire because of their experience and what they choose to do because of it is also examined.

The interesting thing about his analysis of this technology is that it is not shown as bad. One might think that the only reason to write such an issue-infused piece in disguise would be to criticize or maybe to commend the issues, but O'Brien simply states one scenario and its results. Judgment is left to the reader.

According to his biography on www.enotes.com, O'Brien wrote only three children's books. His main occupation included working for the Washington Times-Herald, Pathfinder News magazine and National Geographic using his real name, Robert Leslie Conly.

The book also has something to tell us about women's issues at the time. Being a woman and a feminist, even as a kid reading the book, I noticed how Mrs. Frisby's husband never told her about his affiliation with a group of mysterious intelligent rats. And all these intelligent rats are male. But in the spirit of O'Brien's objectivity, I'll leave the analysis of this to you.