[LISTENED TO: Summer 2017] Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life
I might be one of the few people in America to have never read anything by James Patterson. Well, C. really enjoyed this series (and his other books for young readers) so we decided to listen to this on a car ride. (Both kids had seen the film already, although I hadn’t).
I have to say that right off the bat I was turned off by the introduction of this book because there was this hard rocking guitar that they played through about 3 minutes of opening text. And it was too loud! It was really hard to hear the narrator. I kind of tuned out because I feared that the whole book would feature this (it doesn’t). And while I won’t say I was confused by what I missed, I did wonder if I’d missed some things that were revealed later (also, some of the main character’s motivation).
Rafe Khatchadorian is starting Hills Village Middle School. It’s a new school (sixth grade). Rafe seems to have a hard to succeeding in school in general. There’s also a lot going on at home. His mom has been dating a jerk named Bear. Bear is unemployed, and living with them while Rafe’s mom is working two jobs and is hardly ever home.
The only person who seems to help Rafe cope with things is his friend Leo the Silent. Leo doesn’t talk much, but he is an awesome artist. And he also encourages Rafe to do things that maybe he shouldn’t.
When Rafe arrives at school, he is given a rule book with over 100 rules that he must follow. Given the possibility of hanging out, being good and following the rules or having fun and enjoying school, he and Leo make a choice. And they come up with “Operation R.A.F.E.” (which stands for Rules Aren’t For Everyone). The operation is set up like a video game. Rafe is going to try to break every rule in the handbook. Leo will award him points. But he will also only have three “lives,” which he will lose if he gets caught or otherwise fails in his quest. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 