The Champion of Merrimack County was either pretty good for a bad book, or pretty bad for a good book. Not sure which.
Drury writes well enough, and there are some real laugh-out-loud scenes, especially in the first third of the book.
O Crispin is a mouse, who rides a bicycle and plans to win the big race and become the Champion of Merrimack County. He is practicing in Mr. Berryfield's bathtub, when he has a wreck and is attended to by Mrs. Berryfield and her daughter Janet. Janet goes off to find someone to help by fixing the bicycle, while her mother heads off with the mouse, to get help for him.
The book a number of weaknesses though. There is very little actual plot. Mr. Berryfield is stubbornly unlikable. For a children's story, Janet has an unusually small role in the book. I assumed that the big race O Crispin was preparing for would be a highlight of the book, but it's not part of it at all. 2/3 of the book takes place before the race, and then it picks up a week after the race. The race isn't part of the story at all.
Entertaining in an extremely light-hearted way, but overall disappointing. ( )