Part of Middle School, book 13
First published 2021
Rafe Khatchadorian craves excitement after a quiet stretch in his chaotic life. When someone offers him a free art field trip to California, he accepts immediately, picturing a glamorous Hollywood adventure. Reality hits hard when he arrives at a desert campsite for something called a "Cultural Campout" instead of the vacation he imagined. The desert throws one disaster after another at Rafe. A hostile crocodile threatens him. He gets stuck exploring a cramped ancient cave. He discovers cave paintings that might be elaborate fakes. Then Rafe stumbles into something much more dangerous than art fraud. Criminals are using the camp as cover to smuggle a famous stolen diamond, and now Rafe stands directly in their path. For once, his talent for finding trouble might have landed him in a situation his usual luck and quick thinking cannot solve.
Genres: adventure, mystery, contemporary
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: California, Desert
288 pages · Hardcover · jimmy patterson