Drew's a bit of a loner. She has a pet rat, her dead dad's Book of Lists, an encyclopedic knowledge of cheese from working at her mom's cheese shop, and a crush on Nick, the surf bum who works behind the counter.

It's the summer before eighth grade and Drew's days seem like business as usual, until one night after closing time, when she meets a strange boy in the alley named Emmett Crane. Who he is, why he's there, where the cut on his cheek came from, and his bottomless knowledge of rats are all mysteries Drew will untangle as they are drawn closer together, and Drew enters into the first true friendship, and adventure, of her life.

"Reinhardt traces the friendship formed between two lonely adolescents in this atmospheric novel set in California during the 1980s. Thirteen-year-old Drew first runs into Emmett, a scraggly, slightly older boy, when she is looking for her lost pet rat in the alley behind her mother's gourmet cheese shop...Drew accompanies Emmett on an eye-opening journey, during which she learns some bittersweet lessons about love and sacrifice. Laced with mystery and fascinating details about Drew's chief interests--rats and cheese--this quiet novel invites readers to share in its heroine's deepest yearnings, changing moods, and difficult realizations. Strong imagery, such as a description of the Golden Gate Bridge--First faint and blurred like a watercolor painting, and then strong and vibrant, an electric red against a pale blue sky--will stay with readers. Ages 12–up."
- Publishers Weekly

"Drew's journey into self-knowledge unfolds in a lucid voice that is thoughtful and entertaining without being showy. Emmett's history is painful but not unlikely or shocking. There is a hint throughout of being a step removed that balances the immediacy of the events being related and the power of hindsight. Drew and Emmett's ultimate quest for a miracle and the unquestioning belief in the magic needed for it adds just that touch of innocence and naiveté that is needed to make the ending poignant. Quiet yet immensely appealing."
- Kirkus

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