Meg’s new stepfather, Mike, has given her cat to the animal refuge and Meg’s mum doesn’t seem to care. It was cruelty to animals . . . and children. Her mum says that Starry was nothing but trouble anyway, and besides Mike is allergic to cats. But Meg has a cunning plan to get Starry back, and it involves Ryan Stark, one of the meanest boys in school, and his pet rats. It’s just too bad that Meg hates rats, with their glittering eyes, long, revolting whiskers and despicable bald-leather tails, almost as much as her mother does. But she has to get Starry back before they give her away, or worse . . .