Mike Costa has lived his whole life in the Strip, Pittsburgh’s ware-
house and factory district.  His father’s large Italian family runs a food wholesale business and Mike is used to the sounds and smells of men working all night to unload the trains that feed the city.  But it’s 1933 and the Depression is bringing tough times to everyone.  Money problems only add to Mike's worries about his beloved grandfather who is getting forgetful and confused.  

Mike is being tormented at school by a loud-mouth named Andy Simms, who calls Mike Macaroni Boy.  When dead rats start appearing on the streets, that name changes to Rat Boy.  Around the same time Mike notices that his grandfather is also physically sick.  Can whatever is killing the rats be hurting Mike's grandfather?  It's a mystery Mike urgently needs to solve in this atmospheric, fast-paced story filled with vibrant period detail.

“. . . As a protagonist, Mike seems like an ordinary boy at first, but learns to solve his problems with intelligence . . .  His actions and his perceptions give readers an involving and informative kid’s-eye look at several aspects of city life in the 1930s.”  School Library Journal  

“Ayres takes to the gritty streets of the Strip, the warehouse district in Pittsburgh, for a Depression-era tale steeped in mystery and exploring family ties . . ..”  Publishers Weekly

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