Diggers by Terry Pratchett

I picked up Truckers, the first in The Bromeliad Trilogy by Terry Pratchett, on a visit to the Book Bin in Corvallis, Oregon. The cover, showing small people in the cab of a truck, was appealing. The story was even better. It's the story of a nome named Masklin whose little band of nomes is struggling for survival in the great outdoors. In desperation, Masklin leads his group, despite much dissension, onto the back of a human truck. This truck takes them to the Store where they find thousands of nomes who don't believe in the Outside. Well-established views of the world are challenged and stretched as these two groups meet and as they learn that they must leave the Store before it is demolished.

The way Pratchett portrays the point of view of these small, fast living creatures is one of the great delights of the books. Here's just a taste from Diggers: "Masklin's little tribe had once lived in a highway embankment beside rolling countryside that was full of things that were hungry for fresh nome. The idea that you could die simply of not being alive anymore was a new one to them." In Diggers, the nomes continue their attempts to create a home for themselves despite the challenges of Winter and the encroachment of humans. Only Masklin seems to realize that they have a destination much further on than they can even comprehend. I'll have to read the final book, Wings, to find out if they make it.