During the Great Depression, a boy who faces bullying stumbles upon a mystery and comes of age in this novel that integrates fact and opinion and has a rich 1930โs vocabulary. Extra material: An Authorโs Note is included in the back of the book.
Mike Costa has lived his whole life in The Strip, Pittsburghโs warehouse and factory district. His fatherโs large Italian family runs a food wholesale business, and Mike is used to the sounds and smells of men working all night to unload the trains that feed the city. But itโs 1933, and the Depression is bringing tough times to everyone. Money problems only add to Mikeโs worries about his beloved grandfather, who is getting forgetful and confused.
ย ย ย Mike is being tormented at school by a loud-mouth named Andy Simms, who calls Mike โMacaroni Boy.โ But when dead rats start appearing in the streets, that name changes to โRat Boy.โ Around the same time Mike notices that his grandfather is also physically sick. Can whatever is killing the rats be hurting Mikeโs grandfather? Itโs a mystery Mike urgently needs to solve in this atmospheric, fast-paced story filled with vibrant period detail.
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