Meet the Rat: A dancing, football-playing gangster-baiting ten-year-old. When she foresaw her father's death, she picked up her football and decided to head for New York.
Meet her older brother Bob: Protector of the Rat, but more often her follower, he is determined to find their uncle in America and discover a new life for them both.
On their adventures across the flatlands of Winnipeg and through the exciting streets of New York, Bob and the Rat make friends with a hilarious con man and a famous rap star, and escape numerous dangers. But is their Uncle a rich business man, or is the word on the street, that he something more sinister, true? And will they ever find him?
Hughes has created a funny, warm, unique world that lives and breathes. Like I Capture the Castle, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Curious Incident, Hughes' story and characters will resonate for many and for years to come.

This book was recognised in the Teen category by the Booktrust Book Award. The Book Trust Best Book Awards with Amazon Kindle, which took place in 2014, aimed to unearth the very best childrens books the UK has to offer, and to honour authors and illustrators who continue Britains proud heritage of storytelling. It was recognised by the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize Award. This award was founded in 1967 and winners are selected by fellow writers. It is awarded annually to fiction written for children aged eight and above.

There are 240 pages in this book. This book was published 2010 by Hachette Children's Group .

Gregory Hughes was born in Liverpool, the eighth child in a family of nine. Expelled from school, he spent several years in a home for wayward boys. He has since travelled the world working in a variety of jobs. His first novel, Unhooking the Moon, won the Booktrust Teenage Prize in 2010. He now lives in Los Angeles.