A girl learns how to walk dogs--and walk tall--in this charming,
coming-of-age novel
Twelve-year-old Jessie is in for a long, lonely summer at her aunt and
uncle's house. Her uncle is clueless, her aunt is downright frosty, and
worst of all, her cousin Ann thinks Jessie isn't cool enough to hang out
with anymore. 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 like the best of them. But when Monique, a charming 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.