Humanity

As a family we just finished reading a great book. The story centers around a widow and her family who are being forced to move even though the youngest son is very sick. She appeals to her friends for help and they put her in touch with a reclusive fraternity who could help her. She initially had her doubts but it turns out that her husband was dearly loved by this group. In the course of the story you learn a lot about the special relation ship that her late husband had with this group.
The major theme that stuck out with me was that each of us is different in some ways and just the same in many others. The characters teach the reader to be grateful for our differences and use those very differences to bring us all closer together. Several times in the story characters risk their lives in order to help each other. Some of the characters end up giving the ultimate sacrifice for their friends and neighbors.
The author uses a deliberate irony to teach us all these lessons about humanity. You see none of the main characters are human. I believe that this tool makes the story much more effective than it would have been otherwise. "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" has always been one of my favorite children’s books. I first read this book in forth grade. Yet it was in reading this to my kids that I first realized how good a book it is for all ages.
I'm typing this as I lie awake thinking about my own humanity. I wonder how much work I need to do to be as.. "human" as the rats and mice in this book. I have a lot of work to do...