Life on the wharf is easy for the young rat Vasco until the day he discovers that most of his tribe has been killed. To escape the humans who are exter minating them, Vasco journeys with a few rodents on a freighter in search of a peaceful place to live. The journey aboard the ship is fraught with danger, as is life in their final destination. After many challenges Vasco is able to establish a safe refuge for his new tribe. Anne-Laure Bondoux has received France’s Prix Sorcières Award. pwc

Originally pub lished as La Tribu in French by Bayard Editions Jeunesse France, in 2004. Translated by Y.

LIKE ALL THE rats in his tribe, Vasco loves to scurry around the harbor in search of discarded fish. But one day, he discovers that the members of his tribe have died under mysterious circumstances. Now Vasco is alone . . . until he joins some fearsome rats who live deep in the sewers. Among them, he makes some loyal friends and some daunting enemies. And as he begins to understand that humans are masterminding the extinction of all the rats in the city, Vasco sees only one solution: to flee aboard a ship.

Courageous, humble, and determined, Vasco does his best to guide his exiled companions to a faraway land where they can live peacefully. But in struggling to establish a new tribe, and to find a place they can call home, Vasco must endure countless dangers and rise to many challenges.