Always, Clementine - Carlie Sorosiak

AUTHOR: Carlie Sorosiak

GENRE: Middle-grade Fiction, Animals

RATING: 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: Loved the cover! Liked the story. Disliked the writing format. Good for kids.

Story Synopsis:

Clementine is not your typical lab mouse; she is great at maths and astrophysics and loves showing off her intelligence to the scientists. When a sympathetic lab tech escapes with her (and one of her fellow lab mice) and delivers them to the mailbox of a local animal lover, Clementine isn’t sure what awaits her. She longs for the comfort of the lab, she is worried about what kind of person will find her, but most importantly, she misses her friend from the lab, Rosie the chimpanzee. Hence Clementine begins composing letters in her mind, all addressed to Rosie and talking about everything that’s happening to Clementine since her escape from their earlier confines.

Most of the entire story comes to us through these mental epistles from Clementine’s first person point of view and addressed to Rosie. (That explains the sign-off style in the title, “Always, Clementine.”) There are a few other missives along the way.

Where the book worked:

😻 That adorable cover art! If this were in a bookshop, I would have grabbed a copy for that cover alone!

😻 Clementine’s personality is charming and loveable, especially towards the start. She isn’t into fake humility but knows where she stands in mind as well as in size. When she stated Rosie to be "as bright and lonely as myself", my heart went out to her.

😻 The book makes a strong comment against lab testing of animals in the story and in the author’s note. The story content isn’t brutal on the page (so sensitive kids *might* not have a problem), but the events are clear enough to highlight how animals are misused and to call for a change in testing methodologies.

😻 While the topic is serious, there are plenty of funny scenes to keep things light for kids. Of course, I am sure how they will feel about Clementine’s passion for Brussels sprouts! 😄

😻 Kids who love chess will love to see Clementine’s ability with the sport (as is hinted by the cover.) While it is a tad farfetched, it is reminiscent of Ratatouille the rat’s ability to cook up yummy delicacies in the movie. At least Clementine has the justification of being genetically altered.

😻 There are some interesting secondary characters. Pop and Gus stand out with their caring approach towards animals. Can’t forget Hamlet, the other lab mouse.

😻 The pace is quite quick, as must be in children’s fiction.

Where the book could have worked better:

🙀 The epistolary format doesn’t lend itself well to the story beyond the first few chapters. All the more as Clementine isn’t writing anything but “thinking” letters to narrate to her friend. The book would have worked better in a general first person narration.

🙀 The book gets repetitive and boring in between. (This could be put down to my age. Kids might still have fun throughout.)

🙀 Certain aspects of Clementine’s knowledge are at odds with each other. This could be put down to her altered DNA, but it felt too convenient how she knew some complicated things and didn’t know other basic information.

I had picked this up expecting some similarity to the <a href =” https://www.goodreads.com/series/58893-according-to-humphrey”>Humphrey the hamster series.</a> However, this fails to live up to the cutesy charm of Humphrey’s anecdotes, though both Humphrey and Clementine are equally adorable. Of course, one might also recollect Stuart Little—the other famous mouse, but the writing style is very different and Stuart’s anthropomorphism creating a disparate experience. The vibes in this one are more like ‘The One and Only Ivan’ than any rodent story.

All in all, a good read with a powerful message. Recommended to tweens.

My thanks to Walker Books US, Candlewick Press, and Edelweiss+ for the DRC of “Always, Clementine”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.