Kid Lawyer

headhunter7667 - Theo is thrust into a no-win situation when an acquaintance confides that his cousin has incriminating evidence against the killer that is about to go free in the murder trial. But the cousin won't come forward because he is an illegal immigrant and fears that he will be deported and unable to support his family. Theo has been sworn to secrecy, and is torn between keeping his word to protect someone in need, and making sure that a criminal is brought to justice. This book may be best-suited for kids on the older end of the publisher's recommended age of 9-12 and younger teens -- it is heavy on description of criminal court procedure that may be difficult for younger readers to follow. The crime in question is a death via compression of the carotid artery. Theo also gives legal advice on a drug charge and a drunk driving arrest. Theo is never in true Grisham-style danger, though there is a menacing "body guard" type character that follows and spies on several people. There is a good age-appropriate lesson about the basic tenets of our judicial system, including the concept of presumed innocence.

May 31, 2010
Grisham, a bestseller-list fixture with his legal thrillers, makes his children's book debut with a series opener that lacks thrills. The only child of two attorneys, Theo Boone is an endearing oddball, an eighth-grader who still thinks girls have cooties, but who knows every lawyer, bailiff, and judge in town. There's an underdeveloped subplot about a best friend whose parents are divorcing, but Theo's contacts with peers mainly consist of him playing lawyer—advising one boy to have his parents file for bankruptcy to avoid foreclosure, reassuring another about his brother's drug arrest, and in the main thread, producing an eyewitness to a murder for which the prosecuting attorney, heretofore, had only circumstantial evidence. He's less a real kid than an adult's projection of what an ideal kid might be like—determined to be the "most talented linguist" in his Spanish class and appreciative of the scruffy charms of the local college team's baseball stadium. The book is smoothly written, and there's a mild tutorial on the criminal justice system ("Theo knew that in 65 percent of murder cases the defendant does not testify..."). What there isn't is any excitement. Ages 8–12.