Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    The Year of the Rat
    Unavailable
    The Year of the Rat
    Unavailable
    The Year of the Rat
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Year of the Rat

    Written by Clare Furniss

    Narrated by Billie Fulford-Brown

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    Read the ebook instead

    About this audiobook

    The world can tip at any moment... a fact that 15-year-old Pearl is all too aware of when her mom dies after giving birth to her baby sister, Rose, who looks exactly like a baby rat - all pink, wrinkled, and writhing.

    This little Rat has destroyed everything - even ruined the wonderful relationship that Pearl had with her stepfather - the Rat's biological father.

    Told across the year following her mother's death, Pearl's story is full of bittersweet humor and heartbreaking honesty about how you deal with grief that cuts you to the bone, as she tries not only to come to terms with losing her mother, but also the fact that her sister - The Rat - is a constant reminder of why her mom is no longer around.

    ©2014 Clare Furniss (P)2014 Dreamscape Media, LLC

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateNov 4, 2014
    ISBN9781633794092
    Author

    Clare Furniss

    Clare Furniss grew up in London and moved to Birmingham in her teens. After brief stints as a waitress, shop assistant and working at the Shakespeare Centre Library, she studied at Cambridge University and worked for several years in political media relations. She now lives in Bath and has completed an MA in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University. Clare's novels have been shortlisted for numerous awards including the Branford Boase, CILIP Carnegie and The Bookseller YA Bookprize. You can follow her on Twitter @clarefurniss and find out more information on her website www.clarefurniss.com.

    Related to The Year of the Rat

    Related audiobooks

    YA Family For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      THE latest BOOKS

      Sep 5, 2019

      In a town surrounded by deadly mist, and filled with oddities, two young siblings become orphans. They find some new friends to help keep them safe, but in a town revelling in its own chaos and new dangers around every corner, Aubrey's sister and Aub

      1 min read

    • Article

      Turning 13

      Sep 11, 2022

      Turning 13
      2 min read

    • Article

      All about MY FATHER

      May 13, 2019

      All about MY FATHER
      6 min read

    • Article

      Backwaters Of The Molopo

      May 27, 2022

      Backwaters Of The Molopo
      10 min read

    • Article

      Chitchat

      Mar 2, 2020

      Write to us and tell us about your move to the Platteland, the characters in your town, the things you love, the things that bug you… Send an email to helloplatteland@gmail.com or post your letter to Platteland Letters, PO Box 526, Moorreesburg 7310.

      11 min read

    • Article

      To Dad

      May 20, 2019

      To Dad
      2 min read

    • Article

      Chitchat

      May 27, 2019

      Write to us and tell us about your move to the platteland, the characters in your town, the things that bug you… Send an email to helloplatteland@gmail.com or post your letter to Platteland Letters, PO Box 526, Moorreesburg 7310. We give preference t

      7 min read

    • Article

      New Zealand Woman’s Weekly

      Nov 13, 2023

      There are peak moments in everyone’s career and the opportunity to interview Dolly Parton is one of mine. I can’t remember her ever not being in my life – my parents loved her. I was only young, but I was taken to see 9 to 5 when it was released in 1

      1 min read

    • Article

      Turning Red

      Mar 23, 2022

      Turning Red
      2 min read

    • Article

      Pam Ayres: ‘I Inherited A Love Of English From My Mother’

      Aug 5, 2023

      It’s important to be yourself in life. Don’t think you have to adapt according to the people or situation you’re in. It’s perfectly all right to be exactly who you are, to like what you like. That’s a lesson it took me a long time to learn. I grew up

      3 min read

    • Article

      Simon & Ali’s girl Paris STEPS INTO THE SPOTLIGHT!

      May 28, 2023

      She’s the daughter of two high-profile journalists, TVNZ newsreader Simon Dallow and former Breakfast presenter Alison Mau, but Paris Dallow hasn’t followed their footsteps into the newsroom – instead, she’s determined to make a name for herself in m

      3 min read

    • Article

      Hot Right Now!

      Aug 10, 2023

      Do you want a page-turner to grip you this season? Well, we might just have the one for you… If you could go back, knowing what happens after you die, everything that spirals after that one moment, would you change the course of history? Or would you

      2 min read

    • Article

      Ring Masters!

      Feb 14, 2020

      Ring Masters!
      4 min read

    • Article

      Julie Andrews

      Mar 25, 2017

      The actor is bringing her many talents to a new Netflix program for children, Julie’s Greenroom. With a cast of Jim Henson puppets and a roster of celebrity guests, it aims to teach kids the virtues of the arts.

      1 min read

    • Article

      Fiction Roundup

      Sep 10, 2021

      This is an endearing story about a little café on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast run by Thirapatheegadu Reddy, who’s known as Tubby to his friends. He has a small but dedicated staff who help him prepare the homely dishes for which his establishment i

      3 min read

    • Article

      View from THE BACK

      Mar 7, 2023

      View from THE BACK
      2 min read

    • Article

      4 Delightful New Books For Middle-grade Readers

      Jun 7, 2018

      History, fantasy, humor, and drama mingle in these four wonderful new books for middle-grade readers – out just in time for summer reading.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Mya-Rose Craig

      Jun 30, 2022

      Mya-Rose Craig
      2 min read

    • Article

      From The Editor

      Apr 4, 2021

      It's been more than a year since the Weekly caught up with Tamati and Tim, so it’s lovely to see how much Tutanekai has grown. It was last January that we met their adorable baby, who's now walking and talking – and still keeping them up at night! Ta

      1 min read

    • Article

      It's Spring! Dust Off Your Backpack!

      Aug 25, 2023

      MY 5 KEY WORDS: NINA DU PLESSIS Financial administrator Nina du Plessis has a perfect getaway from the pressures of work – hiking in places where cell phones can’t always reach! Du Plessis is based in Gordon’s Bay, about an hour eastwards from Cape T

      2 min read

    • Article

      Reading CORNER

      Sep 12, 2021

      After leaving her quirky past behind, Allegra realises she’s missing five very important people Everything about this novel is quirky – from the style of writing, to the story and its main character. It is a book to make you smile and win your hear

      2 min read

    • Article

      MARKING HIS 50th BIRTHDAY AND 30 YEARS IN SHOWBIZ PETER ANDRE HOW HIS CHILDREN INSPIRE HIM — AND WHY HE’S READY TO ‘GO UP A GEAR’

      Apr 24, 2023

      At the height of his 1990s fame, hitmaker Peter Andre was wowing crowds all over the world, but fast-forward to his 50th birthday and his 30th year in showbiz and the star is busier than ever. “I’ve got this unbelievable drive that’s just hit me. I w

      3 min read

    Reviews for The Year of the Rat

    4/5

    26 ratings3 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Pearl's mother has died in childbirth, and Pearl is devastated and furious, with her mum and stepdad, with her premature baby sister, still in a hospital incubator, referred to as the Rat, and perhaps most of all with herself.Bereavement and the emotions that go with it seem to be a popular topic for young adult fiction at the moment, but I found this particular account of a very difficult year in Pearl's life very moving. Pearl's dead mum remains a vivid character in the story, not only in her memories but as a ghost with some rather bad habits, who turns up smoking in Pearl's room to talk to her. Despite the heartbreak in the story's present, these conversations are often very funny. I found the characters very moving and am still wondering about Pearl and how she might be doing now, long after reading the end of the story.
    • 4/5
      The Year of the Rat chronicles the life of 16 year old pearl for one year after her mother dies from a complicated pregnancy resulting in the premature birth of a baby girl that Pearl cannot bring herself to even look at, let alone love. Overcome with grief, she withdraws from everything and everyone around her, including school, her friends, her father. The author leaves it up to the reader to decide whether visits from her mother after the death are really happening, or if they created in Pearl's mind as a way of coping with the loss.I loved reading this book. The writing was excellent. The beginning of the book was almost too sad for me to get through, but the author saved me with some really funny parts that made the story bearable. The main characters and the issues they have are so realistic- you see them as complex and real people, with faults and strengths. I loved reading this one.
    • 4/5
      Thank you to the publisher for sending me this book. This did not influence my review in any way.Oh man. Did I only just start this book this morning? It’s not even eleven and my nose is running, my face is red, eyes are puffy. Did I mention I read most of this on a train? Yes, I like to embarrass myself that much. I’m pretty sure I nearly started sobbing at one point.The world may tip at any moment.Pearl has lost her mum and gained a sister, all in the one breath. She doesn’t know how she’s meant to love the new baby when she is reason that their mum is gone. Consumed by her own grief, Pearl starts throwing up barriers to the outside world and is not going to let anyone break them down in a hurry. The only person Pearl wants to speak to is her mum – and strangely enough, this doesn’t seem to be an impossibility, because Pearl knows her mum isn’t completely gone. But she’s not completely here either.I’m sitting on the train after having finished this, have wiped my tears away with toilet paper and accepted the blotchiness may not fade instantly. Why was I crying? Who was I crying for? It wasn’t for the fact that Stella had died – as readers we don’t even really know Stella when we find out she has died – but for Pearl, and the fact that her grief is unfathomable. Sixteen years old and needing your mum more than ever, but only realising it when it’s too late. On top of that there’s a new baby that needs her dad’s attention so Pearl feels she has no one to share her sorrow with. No one knows, no one understands. No matter how hard they try. And this is – partly – why I was crying. (Also, it is very, very easy to make me cry!)Other reasons for my tears? The way Pearl couldn’t see how much her dad loved her, despite him not being her biological father. He was her father in all the ways that matters and it takes her a trip to Sussex to work that out. The way she just watched her life slip away from her, not really caring where she ended up. Shit I’m nearly crying now just thinking about this, but that last scene, where everything’s not good, not yet, but maybe, eventually, it will be okay again.I really enjoyed this book, despite all the crying. There’s a bit of dark, dry humour, there’s a bit of emotional upheaval, there’s the writing style I really enjoyed – actually being inside a sixteen-year-old’s head that I actually didn’t mind, even when I thought she was being unreasonable. Oh yeah, Pearl’s not always likable. There are times when I thought, okay your mum’s gone and that’s awful, but could you stop being a brat for like two seconds? Her off the cuff remarks could be quite hurtful and sometimes she did realise what she was doing, but didn’t stop. It’s hard to face moving on from the death of a loved one and even harder to watch the world move on without you, but these are the things you have to face, along with the consequences of the decisions made when your eyesight is blurred. Luckily, Pearl realises it’s not too late to begin to repair the relationships she has with people who are still here. I loved the emphasis on the important of family.Just one of those really great reads. Not sure when I’ll crack it open next for fear of more tears, but it has definitely earned its spot on my bookshelf.