Rafe has an unfortunate home life. He is entering the sixth grade. He and Leo, his very silent friend, make a plot to break every single rule in the school's handbook. This story (with its pictures), is about his journey of mistakes, victories, and lessons.

The book is very well developed for its target audience: middle schoolers! Patterson did a wonderful job at capturing their worst fears, humor, priorities, etc. I even like it more that the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books because the story had much deeper, real issues, that were central to the text. These deeper issues also give the adult audience something to think about.

As a teacher, this book has made me think about the relationships between different adults and troubled students. Each adult in this story responds to Rafe in a different manner. I found myself judging the adult response to Rafe's behaviors. I was all wrapped up in enlightenment and frustration at the same time as I read. I also had intense emotions in response to Rafe's actions myself. I struggled through the book until the very end. I was so mad at Rafe for throwing his education away. At the end, when the roots of the problems were identified, I had much more sympathy for the main character.

Overall, this work is a great read for middle schoolers. It brings them humor, artistic inspiration, and examples of bad choices with appropriate consequences.