Rafe Khatchadorian may seem like the average teenager, but his life has been looking down ever since he started middle school. This book follows Rafe as he faces a brand-new set of problems in his life. The story starts with a depressing Christmas and dreams that went unfulfilled. However, Rafe has the chance to fix all that when he starts his own dog-walking business. But not too soon, competition shows up, making Rafe’s life miserable once again. Even further, Rafe then realizes that his dog-walking may be necessary for his family to survive. Will Rafe be able to fight the wars ahead of him, or will everything take a turn towards the worse?
I found this to be a very good novel. The plot is well-created, as it focuses on the bigger pictures and smaller stories at the same time. Continuing, the different characters were developed well, making it easy to dive into the book although this was the 8th one in the series. The twists and turns keep the audience at the edge of its seat, waiting to discover what happens at the end. This book was exceptional due to the amount of humor, which added to the quality. Overall, this was an entertaining story, and I would highly recommend it to a friend.
Much of this book stood out in my mind, but a memorable aspect was the illustrations. There were drawings throughout the book that added humor and made certain parts of the story funnier. There was also a miniature comic strip featured every now and then.
Reviewed by Shivram, Grade 9, Gayton Library
HCPL TeenScene's Read + Review 