The Dark Portal is a dark fantasy novel for children by British author Robin Jarvis. The first book in The Deptford Mice trilogy and Jarvis's debut novel, it follows the story of Audrey Brown, a mouse girl who is looking for her missing father. Her search takes her into the sewers of Deptford where, with the help of her friends and family, she must face an army of evil rats and their living god, a mysterious being known as Jupiter. The book was first published in the United Kingdom by Macdonald & Company in 1989, and was a runner-up for that year's Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. In 2000, it was published by SeaStar Books in the United States and given the Booklist Editors' Choice designation. In March 2024, Pushkin Children's Books reissued The Dark Portal in paperback and ebook formats. The text was given "a thorough dusting" and new illustrations were done by Jarvis. Source: Wikipedia (en)