Michael J. Daley


Testimonial from a recent Writing Workshop

"Our students really enjoyed the visit with Michael. They were very excited
about science fiction writing after hearing his presentation and doing a
writing workshop with him."
---Kelly Ahlfeld, Librarian
Mettawee Community School



Advanced Praise for RAT TRAP "In this sequel to Space Station Rat (2005), Daley presents another entertaining outer-space romp...the fast-paced plot is sure to please fans of computer games and sentient machines..." ---KIRKUS REVIEWS,


Named to 3 State Lists Rhode Island South Dakota Oklahoma Fun RAT MAZE! (downloadable game) AWARD NOMINEE SPACE STATION RAT AUTHOR VIDEO Oklahoma's 2008 Sequoyah Children's Masterlist.

My 5 foot by 5 foot writing tower with solar panels for electricity.


Michael J. Daley has enjoyed a life-long love of science, machines, and science fiction. These passions inform his fiction and non-fiction writing with a unique spirit.


In his fiction, Michael strives to give the reader a "you've been there" feel and has created a dizzying space station experience in his first novel SPACE STATION RAT.

In his second novel, SHANGHAIED TO THE MOON, the reader joins Stewart Hale on a perilous journey to the Moon in an ancient space shuttle.



It's hands-on solar activities with AT HOME WITH THE SUN, including his hit PIZZA BOX SOLAR OVEN---cook solar s'mores! Michael has presented energy issues to over 25,000 kids in schools, libraries, and summer camps all over New England.

Michael writes his books in a five foot by five foot tower room on a solar powered laptop computer. He lives in Westminster, Vermont with his wife, award winning childrens author Jessie Haas.




RAT SPEAKS! NEW AUDIO VERSION WINS AUDIOFILE EARPHONES AWARD! "...the most
appealing rat to appear in public since Disney's "Ratatouille.""---AudioFile Magazine

A NEW EARLY READER CHAPTER BOOK COMING IN FEBRUARY 2012!

Pinch is hungry. But he is too lazy to make his own soup.

Dash is a great cook. But he never puts enough pepper or hot sauce in his soup.

Can two friends make the perfect pot of soup? Or will a spat about spices spoil their lunch?

Meet Pinch & Dash, two good friends who do things differently---but always stick together in the end.

Available in hardcover & paperback
Charlesbridge
ISBN 978-1-58089-346-6


Full Cast Audio has just released an unabridged audio version of Space Station Rat
by Michael J. Daley

HERE'S WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY ABOUT RAT:
There's not much true science fiction available for the intermediate grades, so we were delighted to find this terrific outer space adventure story. Though it is humorous and exciting, its science seriously, as a good SF novel should. This is a solo read, provided by our own Dan Bostick, who was named one of the five best voices in Children's Audio last year by AudioFile Magazine.

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2008 Golden Duck Award for Excellence in Children's Science Fiction---Eleanor Cameron Middle Grade Novel
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Prologue

NANNY

Alone
In the dark
And the dust
Emergency power running low
Remember
A boy
A rat
The smell of liverwurst.
Remember...

read more


Praise for RAT TRAP

"Lavender Ratties!!! or Rat Trap by Michael J. Daley from Holiday House, 2008.

I reviewed Daley's Space Station Rat back here in 2006. It's remained one of my favourites in my collection.

In Rat Trap Daley continues the story, as Rat has to hide from investigators, learns something about ethics and learns how to tempt a computer into sentience.

I love this book. I love that Rat remains always and ever a grown up person who has as much practical to teach the boy as she has to learn. I love the fact that Daley never loses sight of the fact that in a rough, tough universe sentimental messages aren't half as useful as a good set of screwdrivers."
---The Intergalactic Playground

BOOKLIST
September 1, 2008
In this follow-up to Space Station Rat (2005), Jeff and his superintelligent rodent friend, Rat, are still stuck in space. Jeff is looking forward to returning to Earth with Rat, but the adults have more sinister plans for Rat. Added threats come from a babysitting robot and from a nefarious scientist, but the intervention of another supersmart machine saves the day. The story's conclusion suggests that Jeff and Rat will have more adventures in future installments. Although not as fast moving as the first title, this will still appeal to young science-fiction fants. ---Todd Morning

"In this sequel to Space Station Rat (2005), Daley presents another entertaining outer-space romp...the fast-paced plot is sure to please fans of computer games and sentient machines..."
---KIRKUS REVIEWS, April 2008


A LOOK INSIDE RAT TRAP


Chapter One of RAT TRAP

A GOOD ROUTINE



"Still dead?"

Rat turned from the computer screen just as the boy sat up in bed. His eyes were half-closed with sleep. His hair spiked in all directions.

"Checking," Rat signed. The boy would not go for food if he did not know. Rat did not blame him. She was afraid of Nanny, too.

Thump, thump of two bare feet. The boy crossed the room to stand beside her. His bare arm brushed against her. She sidled a step away from that touch. Even though the boy's touch was different from the scientists'---nicer---she was still not used to it. Rat was used to living alone, not in a room on a space station with a human boy!

Rat pressed 'RUN' and the spy program started up, tapping into the security camera in the workshop. The screen showed a low, wide workbench covered with bits of Nanny, some of them still crusted with dried liverwurst. To the right of the pile of parts, the shiny black body of the robot stood on tiny wheels. The body was about the size of an industrial vacuum cleaner, but sleek, like a jet-scooter helmet. From a socket in the side, a thin, steely arm stuck out, knobby at the joints and ending in a pincer-like gripper. At the far left of the bench rested Nanny's frisbee-shaped head with its one round eye. Once, that eye had glowed green with Nanny's electronic intelligence. Not anymore.

Cables of twisted wire snaked from the head to a row of computers on the wall, all working to try to bring Nanny back. Rat and the boy did not want them to succeed. Sometimes, Rat wished could sneak into the workshop and bite through those cables to make sure Nanny never came back.

But chewing wires had started all the trouble before and doing it again would let them know Rat was still alive. She was supposed to be dead. Killed by Nanny. That's what the boy had told them.

But Nanny was the dead one.

Rat liked it that way.

"That gripper arm wasn't on yesterday," the boy said, yawning.

Rat's nose twitched as his morning breath washed over her. It carried a wiff of fear. Nanny's gripper arms had hurt the boy, but not as badly as the sniffer's vicious bear-trap jaws had hurt Rat's leg.

Rat typed and her words wrote over the image: "THE EYE IS STILL DARK. THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS."

The boy reached for the joystick. He zoomed in on the head. "You're right, Rat."

Satisfied, the boy went to the bathroom. Rat used the toilet now, too. It was necessary. The space station's waste reclaimers counted poop. Every bit of food Rat ate had to be accounted for.
Water gushed, splattering with a harsh sound against the shower stall. Strange way to bathe, getting wet all over. But Rat guessed humans had to. The boy couldn't even scratch the back of his head with his own foot! He'd never be able to wash between his toes.
After his shower, the boy would get breakfast. Her mouth began to water. Would he bring bacon, all wrinkly brown and crisp?

Rat groomed her whiskers. Bacon would be nice.

Next came play time in the Zero-G room. Rat would rather study, but the boy could not sit still so early in the day. So they played tag or z-ball. Of course, the exercise was good for Rat, too. It kept her fit, except for the broken leg. But studying was very important---more important!---because the space shuttle was coming a whole week earlier than scheduled. It docked with the space station in three days, four hours and twenty-six minutes. The shuttle would take the boy home. Back to Earth. Rat would go with him---smuggled. That's why they needed to study. They had to figure out the best way to do that.

The boy did not like to study. He'd rather play games. It did not take Rat long to figure out how to make the boy study. In the lab, the scientists had shaped Rat's behavior with reward and punishment. Now Rat used rewards like z-ball and chess---after study time---to train the boy.

She had never had to use punishment.

The boy came back into the room dressed in his shiny silver jumpsuit. He put on his velcro booties, then opened the laundry drawer under his bed about six inches. This was part of their procedure, readying Rat's hideaway in case someone came to the room while the boy was gone.

"See you in a minute," he said and---scritch rip scritch rip---went out the door.

Rat waited for the sound from the velcro booties to fade, then she opened her "Space Shuttle Escape Pods Operation Manual" study file on the computer. Rat needed this private study time. The boy must not find out about the escape pods. He talked of taking her home with him to live with the mother and the father. In New York City. In an apartment. She had looked these things up. She had seen pictures. A city full of millions of people! A towering building full of thousands! That's where the boy wanted her to live.

It made him happy, this plan.

Rat let him think she agreed, because a happy boy was a controllable boy.

JUST NAMED A BEST BOOK FOR THE TEEN AGE 2008 BY THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ORIGINS OF SHANGHAIED---

One of the things that fascinates me as a writer is how the tiniest chance tidbit of something unexpected can bring an entire world to life in my imagination. This is how SHANGHAIED TO THE MOON came into existence.

There was an NPR report on the discovery of the final camp of the Scott Expedition to the South Pole. Many feet of ice now covered it and a fierce debate was raging: was it ethical to dig down and uncover this place or should the dead be left in peace? Which was the more fitting monument?

For me, this led to the question: What will happen to the site of the first landing on the Moon when we go back there? Val and Stewart and their perilous adventure sprang almost whole from that question.

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Presentation
100 Watt House
Details on how to read my 100 watt twitter & about my new solar presentations
SCIENCE FICTION
SHANGHAIED TO THE MOON
Stewart dreams of becoming a rocket pilot like his Mom, who died in a terrible space shuttle accident, but his father is absolutely opposed to his dream. And then Stewart meets an old spacer with a very special mission...
Science Fiction
SPACE STATION RAT
An escaped, genetically engineer rat; a bored, lonely boy; an evil robot meet on a space station. Someones life is in danger!
SOLAR ENERGY ACTIVITIES
AT HOME WITH THE SUN
Want to cook s'mores using solar energy? Take a bath in sun-heated water? Read Space Station Rat using solar electricity? This is the book for you!