VVMBookBlog

Rat Life by Tedd Arnold

Intense! Intense is the one word I would use to describe this book. Todd is a fourteen year old boy who becomes involved in the mystery of a dead body found floating in the river. He is also a typical fourteen year old boy who likes to write but has difficulties when it is for a school assignment. From the very beginning of the novel, parts of the story are difficult (VERY difficult) to read. In one particularly difficult passage, Todd meets Rat. Rat is a Vietnam vet who offers Todd his first paying job. Many people (novel takes place in the 70s) find Vietnam vets psycho. Is Rat a person Todd should befriend? .

This post doesn’t do justice to the book. It’s difficult to give a description of the story without giving too much of the story away. Most people will read Rat Life from cover to cover without taking much of a break. At points the story is uncomfortable and bizzare. It is a book for mature readers.