Rules of the Ruff by Heidi Lang
Expected Release: August 14th 2018
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Abrams Kids / Amulet Books
Source: NetGalley
Rules of the Ruff Synopsis:
Twelve-year-old Jessie is in for a long summer at her aunt and uncle’s house. Her cousin Ann has a snotty new best friend, which leaves Jessie all alone. But Jessie is industrious, and—not content with being ignored all summer—she convinces Wes, a grouchy neighborhood dog walker, to take her on as his apprentice.
Sure, dog walking turns out to be harder than she expected, but she has Wes’s dog-walking code, the Rules of the Ruff, to guide her, and soon she’s wrangling her very own pack. But when a charismatic rival dog walker moves to town, she quickly snatches up most of Wes’s business—and Jessie decides she isn’t going to take this defeat with her tail between her legs.
Review:
A BIG Thank You to NetGalley and Abrams Kids / Amulet Books for providing me a copy of “Rules of the Ruff″ by Heidi Lang in exchange for my review. Have you ever picked up a book having zero expectations and it turns out to be a complete entertainer? “Rules of the Ruff” exactly did this and I LOVED IT!!
From the get go, the story is interesting and fun to read. The story starts off in a very light-hearted manner with humorous moments of Jessie getting the hang of dog walking. The story then becomes a fun rollercoaster ride of Jessie improving her dog walking skills, sabotaging the rival dog walker, impressing the new boy in the neighborhood, and trying to patch things up with her cousin. There are so many entertaining moments in the story like when Jessie and Wes plan different ideas to get rid of Monique, and when she tries to set things right with Wes. Furthermore, even when the story line becomes a bit serious towards the end, it still maintains it charm and humor.
This book stands out mainly because of its characters. The characters are so down to Earth yet so entertaining. I loved Jessie and Wes as the main character and their interactions are hysterical. I did felt sorry for Jessie most of the time. This girl just can’t seem to get a break when it comes having a stable summer job and a boyfriend. However, I love how determined and focused she is to achieve what she sets out to, irrespective of what people think and fell. She remains who she is and stands for what she believes in, and I loved that quality about her. The author has written the villain also as a deliciously evil character, and I hated Loralee with a passion! More than Loralee, I despised Max and the way he treats Jessie. He is such a coward and a disgrace and keeps disappointing her.
The fact that I am reacting animatedly to the characters shows what a great job Heidi Lang has done in writing this book. She is wonderfully blended the plot with the character developments, and it kept me engrossed throughout. I also liked that she ended the book in a realistic, bittersweet manner. While I hoped that things would have turned out better for Jessie, I did enjoy how the story ended.
On a side note, I had never heard of a Klee Kai prior to reading this book. After googling it, I want to have this dog as well! Overall, I enjoyed this middle grade novel so much that I would definitely be reading it again in the near future. I rate it 5/5 stars!
