Malcolm at Midnight — W.H. Beck

When Malcolm (a smaller than average rat) arrives as the fifth grade pet at McKenna School, he revels in the attention, the Pop-Tart crumbs, and his new Comf-E-Cube. He also meets the Midnight Academy, a secret society of classroom pets that keeps the nutters (kids) out of trouble. After all, everybody knows, "a lot happens in a school when the teachers aren't looking."

There's just one problem. Have you heard? Rats have a terrible reputation! So when the Academy assumes that Malcolm is a mouse, he doesn't exactly speak up. Then the Academy's leader, a glasses-wearing iguana named Aggy, disappears and the Academy smells a rat ... a dirty rat fink, to be specific. Now Malcolm must use all of his ratty persistence to prove his innocence, get Aggy back under her heat lamp -- and find out if it's possible to be a critter of valor and merit even if you're a rat.

The mystery unravels at midnight in this rollicking tale of fur-raising adventure by W. H. Beck, lavishly illustrated by best-selling Brian Lies.