Middle School: Just My Rotten Luck

Just My Rotten Luck is another funny and relatable entry in the Middle School series. Rafe Khatchadorian is back at Hills Village Middle School, and this time he’s stuck in a “special” class while trying to make a name for himself on the football team. The book blends humor, school drama, and heartfelt moments as Rafe learns about teamwork, friendship, and finding confidence even when the odds are against him. The cartoon-style illustrations add extra laughs and make the story perfect for reluctant readers. A great choice for kids who enjoy fast-paced, illustrated school stories with a mix of comedy and heart.

In this Middle School book the main character Rafe is back in school and now in a class called "Learning Skills" where students get extra help with school. That didn't really help with Miller making fun of him. In this class there a a few other students named, Dee-Dee, Jonny, Philip but he's called Flip, and Maya. Rafe also gets a dog, he really likes the dog so much he named it Junior. Flip is known to be really funny and makes a joke out of anything. Rafe ends up become friends with him, but Flip makes him join the football team with him, even Miller made him! Rafe couldn't say no because football could help Rafe. Miller and Rafe make a deal, if Rafe joins the team and does good Miller wont beat him up anymore.

Rafe makes up a show more character called S.A.M witch stands for Secret Artist Man. his plan was to draw famous paintings and wright on the side: S.A.M was here. Rafe doesn't get to play in his first football game but when 3 players get hurt hes sent out on the field and he actually scored a touchdown! Rafe was so proud of himself sadly the girl he likes Jeannie didn't notice because she was to busy at a snack stand. Rafe makes a new SAM called SAM 2.0. in SAM 2.0 Rafe takes pictures of people being bullied and colors the bullies in red and the kids in green then posts them on his account on an art website he calls it BNICE. But in the end Rafe shuts down SAM he decides he's not going to live in secret anymore, but its mostly because Miller figured out Rafe was SAM and the loozer comic writer. Rafe ends up making a deal with Miller that he won't bully Rafe or his Learning skills friends either. All and all Rafe ends yet another adventure with yet another.. well i guess victory.

I liked this book because attention to detail in the righting is great, the book is full a knee slapping jokes, and its relate-able to. I think James Patterson puts a lot of work and effort into his righting because the details of whats happening in the story is amazing! Also Rafe always has something funny to say or a funny picture for the reader to get a even better view of his jokes. And lastly the story is relate-able to with school work grades and maybe even bullies. This book is just the thing you need after a long day of feeling like a "Rafe". show less

Five ROTTEN questions you'll find the answers to inside this book...
1. What's my super-secret mission that's sure to land me in hot water?
2. Is my sister, Georgia, as annoying as ever? (I'll answer this now: YES!)
3. What's Miller the Killer REALLY afraid of?
4. Who ends up being my first kiss? Is she temporarily insane?
And the most unanswerable question of all:
5. Why can't I ever stay out of trouble?

Rafe Khatchadorian is back in this 7th book in the Middle School series and he is up to his old tricks again - sort of. If you read any of the books in this series and liked it, you will like this one. This is a great series for reluctant readers (especially boys). There are cartoonish drawings throughout the books and they move at a fast show more pace.

The main character, Rafe, talks to the reader as if he is a friend. And Rafe is a good friend. He is still convinced he is a loser and is still terrified of Miller the Killer. But, can things actually go right for Rafe just this once? Well, you will have to read to find out.

My 11-year old son loves this series. He likes Rafe and the book made him laugh out loud several times. The story is highly relatable and the characters are fun. Watching Rafe deal with Middle School and all it's challenges is very entertaining (even for me).

I've read all of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and while they are humorous, I don't like the main character, Greg Heffley. He is not a good friend and is very self-centered. I don't mind reading the books with my son, but I often point out the things Greg does that are not nice. Rafe, on the other hand, is a genuinely nice kid. He does have issues and doesn't always do the right thing (which is totally relatable for all of us), but his heart is in the right place. He knows when he has not made the best choice and he feels guilty for it and tries to atone.

Recommended to:
Highly recommended to boys in grades 4-8, especially reluctant readers and lovers of humorous realistic fiction (in this case, school stories). show less

Ok, I'm done. All Rafe all the time is getting so old. Good lessons here, too, that we get hit over the head with. But even though Rafe is having a pretty good fall, he's still whining and panicking all the time. Such a drama 'king.'

I know it's better than Wimpy Kid. And I know that anything that gets kids to read has merit. I just think they deserve better, and I hope they read more after this.

this entry had a lot less "strife" in it. The others all had at least one major issue, but this seems to be an entry where Rafe starts to turn his life around.

Rafe gets into sports and Georgia is now at school with him. Intriguing. Not my favorite out of the series. A bit lacking in the laugh department. But still good.

Read for kids book club. I thought it was pretty mediocre, but we’ll see what the kids think.