Rafe Katchadorian’s antics got him in hot water in the 1st book in this series, but he’s been given a new start. A move away from his small town takes him, his mum and his little sister to his grandmother’s little cluttered house in the city.

His mum has a surprise for him, and he is soon enrolled in Cathedral School of the Arts. Rafe thinks woohoo! Art school must mean no Maths or English or other subjects he finds boring. Wrong! Not only are all of these included, if he doesn’t have good grades and complete all his art assignments to school standard, his place at the school will be under threat.

Despite Rafe being determined to do well, especially for his mum who has been through a lot, there’s a boy called Matty even more determined to make trouble. When Matty’s schemes go too far, Rafe has to make a difficult choice.

Although this is the 2nd in this series, it reads well on its own, has just the right amount of back story to explain his antics, and the scenes where Rafe springs from reality into imaginative action are entertaining. It’s a story about family, growing up, taking on new challenges and making right choices.

Funny, light, and believable as Rafe learns more about himself, his missing father and relatives he didn’t know he had.

Authors – James Patterson/Chris Tebbetts

Age – 8+

(School, Humour, Funny, Imagination, Art, Design, Drawing, Painting, Pranks, Trouble, Bullies, Family, Moving, New school)