Although life is cozy in a hole in the wall of a diner, young Tom Mouse has grander ideas. Taking a tip from a hobo rat one day, he hops aboard a train, and his traveling adventures begin. Fortunately, he manages to find a temporary home in Roomette Nine--and a permanent friend with the other transitory tenant, an unflappable woman named Ms. Powers.

Ursula K. Le Guin, renowned author of the Newbery Honor and National Book Award-winning Earthsea sequence, as well as the Catwings series for younger readers, crafts a gentle tale of unlikely friendship and tame adventure. Readers will smile with relief when they discover, along with Tom, that Ms. Powers is not the kind of person to "scream and stand on the seat" when she sees a rodent. As it happens, she's the kind of person who doesn't mind a pocket-sized companion as she travels the world. --Emilie Coulter