Kim Slater

(3.5 / 5)

When Finlay's mom disappeared, his mild stutter grew to epic proportions. He speaks as little as he can get away with, but that doesn't stop him from being bullied by his peers and treated as ignorant by adults. He escapes into the world of Scrabble, where he can communicate with the tiles. Then, when he meets someone in an online Scrabble community, someone who he begins to suspect holds some kind of clue as to his mom's whereabouts, Finlay latches onto the possibility for all he's worth.

I took my time getting to this review. The truth is, there's nothing wrong with the book, but it just didn't really stand out to me. I felt for Finlay and can't help but feel my ire raised when reading books where the character is bullied this badly. And I liked the relationship that developed with Maryam; I'm a fan of unlikely friendships. The story that unfolded with the mysterious online entity was only part of the story, but was certainly the driving intrigue. And though I appreciated the end of the book as well, what I was left with is that it's a decent book, but not a stand-out read. Still, I do think that a lot of fans of realistic, contemporary middle grade fiction will probably enjoy this book.… (mer)

C'è stato un omicidio, ma alla polizia non importa. In fondo il morto era solo un vecchio senzatetto. Per questo deve pensarci Kieran. Forse non è bravo a capire le emozioni della gente, ma è un genio del disegno e sa guanto contano i dettagli. E ha fatto una promessa: scoprirà cosa è successo veramente. Ma improvvisarsi investigatore non è facile quando abiti in un quartiere disastrato, hai un patrigno violento e il tuo unico amico è un ragazzo ancora più emarginato di te. Indizi e secreti pericolosi sono ovunque, non soltanto nel quartiere e in città, ma perfino in casa sua: per arrivare alla verità Kieran dovrà usare tutto il suo coraggio. Età di lettura: da 12 anni.… (mer)