Ralph S. Mouse

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**Ralph S. Mouse**

1st HarperTrophy edition (1993)
Author	Beverly Cleary
Cover Artist	Tracy Dockray
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	The Mouse and the Motorcycle
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	HarperTrophy
Released	1982
Media Type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	176
ISBN	0380709570
Preceded by	Runaway Ralph

Ralph S. Mouse is a character appearing in three juvenile fiction novels by Beverly Cleary. Ralph is a mouse with the ability to speak, but only to certain people, who tend to be loners.

The third book in The Mouse and the Motorcycle trilogy also has the same name.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Ralph has befriended a young boy named Ryan, the son of the inn's new maid. Ryan has given Ralph the full name of "Ralph S. Mouse," the middle initial standing for "Smart." (The name is not seen in the previous two books.) Meanwhile, Ralph becomes agitated at his family. Forced by his parents to let numerous younger siblings and cousins ride his motorcycle, which is beginning to wear out due to their careless treatment, he asks Ryan to take him to school, where he plans to hide and live out the rest of his life. Ralph is discovered by Ryan's classmates, who adopt him as a class pet and decide to see how smart he is by building a maze for him to run through. All this time Ryan is having difficulties with an aggressive boy from his class. The bully accidentally breaks Ralph's motorcycle, and Ralph blames Ryan and runs away to hide in the school. However, Ryan and his former adversary discover that they have much in common and become friends. Ryan reclaims Ralph and brings him home on the school bus on the day that his new friend comes with him to visit at the inn. The former bully atones for his destruction of Ralph's treasured motorcycle by giving him a toy car. Ralph discovers that like the motorcycle, he can move the car by making car engine noises as a boy would do while playing with it. Ralph further discovers that he can safely give his younger relatives rides in the car without worrying that they will be irresponsible with it (but only Ralph can drive the car). The story concludes by relating that as Ryan and his new friend continued to see each other, Ryan's mother became friends with his friend's father and they eventually marry, making the boys brothers.