The Rat Queen

"For Annies tenth birthday, her papa gives her a pad of paper, some colored pencils, and the Klimas family secret. Its called the nuodeema burna, or eater of sins. Every time Annie misbehaves, she has to write down her transgression and stick the paper into a hidey-hole in the floor of their house. But Annies inheritance has a dark side: with each paper fed to the burna, she feels less guilty about the mean things she says and does. As a plague of rats threatens her small suburban town and the mystery of her birthright grows, Anniecaught in a cycle of purging her misdeedsbegins to stop growing. It is only when she travels to her familys home country of Litvania to learn more about the burna that Annie uncovers the magnitude of the truth"--Provided by publisher.

Pete Hautman is the author of many acclaimed books for young readers and adults, including the National Book Award–winning Godless, the Edgar Allan Poe Award–winning Otherwood, Slider, Eden West, and the Klaatu Diskos trilogy. He divides his time between Wisconsin and Minnesota.