About Karen Rivers
Karen Rivers is the author of twenty-one novels for adults, young adults and middle-grade readers. Her books have been nominated for numerous awards. She lives in Victoria, BC, with two kids, two dogs, two birds, one fish, and an assortment of forest creatures who have boundary issues.
I honestly can’t remember when I first became fascinated by naked mole rats, but beyond their so-ugly-they-are-cute appearance, it turns out that they are also unsung superheroes of the animal kingdom. When I sat down to write this book, my growing fascination with naked mole rats met up in my imagination with my experiences with anxiety/agoraphobia, and it made perfect sense to me that these two things, together, could form the foundation for a middle grade novel as unique as, well, a naked mole rat.
Much in the same way as there is a mysterious alchemy to an idea spawning characters and morphing into a fully-fledged novel, there is another strange alchemy in pairing a cover to book. As an author, seeing what a cover artist does with the characters that I’ve carved out of myself to put on the page is one of my favorite parts of the process. On this cover, Billy Yong beautifully captures kit’s open joy and Clem’s burgeoning teen persona in a way that is as quirky and delightful as any I could have imagined. I hope his inviting, colorful and unique art invites the imaginations of many young readers into this story so they can share kit’s and Clem’s stories.
Thank you!
Cover design by Carla Weise, Cover art by Billy Yong
Title Naked Mole Rat Saves The World
Author Karen Rivers
Pages 288 Pages
Intended Target Audience Middle Grade
Publication Date October 15th 2019 by Algonquin Young Readers
Find It On Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● The Book Depository
Can Kit’s super-weird superpower save her world?
Kit-with-a-small-k is navigating middle school with a really big, really strange secret: When she’s stressed, she turns into a naked mole rat.
It first happened after kit watched her best friend, Clem, fall and get hurt during an acrobatic performance on TV. Since then, the transformations keep happening — whether kit wants them to or not. Kit can’t tell Clem about it, because after the fall, Clem just hasn’t been herself. She’s sad and mad and gloomy, and keeping a secret of her own: the real reason she fell.
A year after the accident, kit and Clem still haven’t figured out how to deal with all the ways they have transformed — both inside and out. When their secrets come between them, the best friends get into a big fight. Somehow, kit has to save the day, but she doesn’t believe she can be that kind of hero. Turning into a naked mole rat isn’t really a superpower. Or is it?
3 Responses
Such a wonderful cover and interesting premise.
This is such a cute cover! Thanks so much for sharing!
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Cute! This seems like a departure from her other types of novels. It looks like a fun read!