Leapholes

November 1, 2006
Gr 6 Up-Racing away from home on his bike to avoid being dragged to another embarrassing visit with his imprisoned father, a South Florida middle schooler is hit by a car and swept into this time-travel thriller. Ryan faces a number of narrow escapes and gradually comes to accept that he has been recruited by Hezekiah, an elderly African-American Legal Eagle, to succeed him. Hezekiah uses leapholes in conjunction with law books to travel back in time to meet the people behind the cases that have established precedent, good or bad, and that determine our current legal environment. Whats not to like about a book that says, Nowhere is the imagination less constrained than in a library and that incorporates lawyer jokes? Unfortunately, weak characterization and circumstantial plot make this novel less appealing for sophisticated teen readers. A portion of the story involves "Dred Scott v. Sandford", and the author has to explain abolition and the Underground Railroad to a clueless Ryan, even though he has studied the Civil War. Extensive end matter includes responses from 19 famous lawyers about why they entered the profession. Fans of Horowitz might bite on this, but not of Grisham."Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA"

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