Book Review: Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer (middle school, murder, dog)

Theodore Boone – Kid Lawyer, by John Grisham (Puffin Books, 2011, 288 pages, $8.99, ages 8-12, grades 3-7), first in a series of six Young Adult novels (Available at the Howard County, MD, public library)

Yes, They Can!

Spencer Quinn* and James Patterson** and now John Grisham*** – all popular contemporary authors of thrilling legal murder mystery tales for adults, can also write popular books for kids! And for grown-ups who want a quick read (kid books).

A Dog, Of Course!

DogEvals would not be reviewing Kid Lawyer if it didn’t have a dog – Judge, of course, a thoroughly mixed mutt, who goes to work every day with our hero Theo’s mom and dad, who just happen to be law partners and who sits on chairs and sleeps under Theo’s bed.

A Kid Lawyer

Theodore Boone is an All-American 13-year-old boy who rides his bike to school in a small town and is experiencing growing up pains. [About Jenny the beautiful: “Hello, Jenny,” he said. She was very pretty and young and Theo was in love. He would marry Jenny tomorrow if he could, but his age and her husband complicated things. (p. 45)]

Theo is the only child of two lawyers (a divorce lawyer and one who stays in his office, one who is neat and cooks twice a year, etc.) and the nephew of a disbarred hippie lawyer. Theo is smart and well-liked, in the Debate Club (but not athletic) and is also the only eighth grader in town with his own ‘law office.’

But Theo is not your average 13-year-old boy: half a dozen kids and grown-ups come to him for personal legal advice****, including a potential witness to a murder. And then there are the requisite shady characters plus the smell and look and sounds of a courtroom where our hero, Theo, hopes to preside one day as a wise judge. (“Most of his classmates dreamed of getting tickets to the big game or concert. Theo Boone lived for the big trials. p. 18)

The Plot

Did we mention the murder? Do you think our hero solves it and everyone lives happily ever after?

Nope, though the book does tie up some loose ends. It continues on to the next book in the series, The Abduction, to keep you going and going and going. That’s next on our list to read. The Scandal also sounds pertinent – about a national middle school cheating plot.

Fast-reading

Kid Lawyer is a quick read, one you can put down but don’t want to. The reader can’t help but learn about trials and lawyers, as well.

(Due to the number of clients our young hero already is asked about****, DogEvals thinks these may just turn out to be the next few books in the series.)

*Woof and To Fetch a Thief, etc.

**Dog’s Best Friend and the Alex Cross and Women’s Murder Club series, etc.

***The Pelican Brief, The Firm, The Runaway Jury, etc.

****from drugs and drunkenness to child custody battles and a leash law violation (a minor offense but one that is heard in Animal Court)