Though the plotline is a bit predictable, readers will enjoy seeing how Dodger twists Willie's simple wishes into slapstick solutions. The story shows a clear difference between what we think we want and the reality of that desire in a lighthearted way. Thus follows a series of delightful antics that will make readers of all ages laugh. Unfortunately for Willie, Dodger's version of wish granting is a little more hands-on than the traditional genie's.

Dodger is going to make Willie's mother less domineering, he is going to make Lizzie go away, and he is going to make Willie a baseball star. Dodger sets on a course that is supposed to make Willie's life better. To his shock, Dodger, a huge blue chimpanzee, appears in front of him. Always conscientious, Willie picks up the bag to dispose of it. He comes to a meadow where everything is blue, everything but the McDonald's bag that someone left lying in a stream. Though he imagines his mother's warnings to stay on the beaten path, Willie cuts through the woods. Tired of always following the rules and getting nowhere, Willie takes a shortcut home. Lizzie takes this request very seriously and follows him everywhere, even to the big game where she embarrasses him by cheering him on despite his horrendous playing ability.

If that is not bad enough, his best friend has moved away and asked Lizzie, a British student at his school, to keep an eye on him. To start, his mother is so overprotective that a simple nosebleed becomes an emergency of epic proportions. One might think it is bad enough that Willie can neither catch nor hit a ball, but Willie has more wrong with his life. The fact that Willie is definitely a wimp is immediately evident when he becomes the reason his baseball team loses the first game in the championship series. In this book we meet Willie Ryan, self-proclaimed wimp. DODGER AND ME is the first book in a new series by Jordan Sonnenblick.

Notes from the midnight driver summary