[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Amulet Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Jessie is spending the summer with her aunt and uncle and cousin “Ann-Marie.” Ann-Marie used to be just Ann and she was fun to hang out with back then. But when she became friends with Loralee, she wanted to be called Ann-Marie instead. She never sticks up for Jessie when Loralee is hateful, cruel or manipulative. Ann-Marie usually doesn’t pay attention to Jessie unless Loralee stands her up.
So Jessie decides to find her own summer fun by pestering her grumpy neighbor, Wes, to let her join his dog-walking business. Wes agrees to take Jessie along only if she learns the Rules of the Ruff – his rules for working with dogs.
Jessie learns a lot about the dogs – and about Wes – through their partnership. When a rival dog walker moves in on Wes’ business, Jessie is incensed. When she hears that the rival doesn’t even love the dogs like Wes does, that it’s just a job to her, Jessie decides to serve up a little vengeance and get Wes’ clients back. But things quickly turn ugly and the Rules of the Ruff might not be enough to set things right again.
Review
This was a cute story with characters that produced some strong emotions in me. Loralee is horrible. She’s a typical, hateful middle grade bully/mean girl, and she’s just awful. Monique, the rival dog walker, really ticked me off, too, with her cavalier attitude about putting Wes out of business. Max and Ann’s inability to stand up to Loralee at times was infuriating. The author did a great job developing characters that incited strong feelings.
I loved Jessie’s persistence and self-acceptance. She never tried to be something she wasn’t. And she makes some really selfless choices in the book that were both painful to read and also inspiring.
On one level, this is a dog story but even more than that it’s a relationship story. Jessie’s relationships with each of the characters tell the reader so much about Jessie and about the people around her. The Rules of the Ruff come in handy with people, not just with dogs. Hand this to your favorite dog lover and be prepared for him or her to really connect with these characters, too.