Heidi Lang

Jessie, twelve, copes with what promised to be a long, boring summer with relatives by becoming apprentice to Wes, a grouchy neighborhood dog walker, who is facing new competition.

Rules of the Ruff

Lynn Braden

Ever since Jessie's mother died, she has spent the summer with her aunt, uncle, and cousin, Ann. She and Ann have always had a lot in common until recently when Ann starts to go by Ann-Marie and she spends more and more time with her new friend, Lorilee. Because she is lonely, Jessie decides to help local dog walker, Wes, with his dog-walking business and learns there are lots of rules to learn in order to become a good dog-walker. Jessie realizes that those rules may be more difficult to learn than she originally thought when another local dog-walker starts to take over several of Wes's clients.

Rules of the Ruff is a cute story about growing up and accepting change. Some of the things that both Jessie and Wes do as sabotage seem pretty mean spirited and there are times in the story when Jessie is her own worst enemy, but overall, Rules of the Ruff is a good coming of age story with lots of cute dogs and valuable life lessons.

Rules of the Ruff

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