Duel is a mystery novel about a boy named David who lives in Jerusalem in the 1960s. David befriends a 70 year old man in a nursing home and helps him solve a mystery of a missing painting. This was an okay book. In my opinion, the story did not seem very well organized. The narrator, David, would often jump around in his story telling. While this would make sense if an actual 12 year old boy had written this, it did not help the flow of the book. I did like the use of Hebrew in the book, though. Since this takes place in Jerusalem, there were times when the characters would say something in Hebrew, then explain what it meant in English. This could be a great book to give perspective to a child who did not know anything about Jerusalem or Hebrew. "Vera shook her hand. 'Gottsolhelfen!' she said. 'She's the spitting image of her mother!'" ( )

This short novel about a 12-year-old Israeli boy is intriguing, if a bit confusing. Following David as he works to prevent a duel involving an older gentleman he has befriended, the story touches occasionally on Israeli history in a not always clear fashion. But the style is entertaining, the main character fairly endearing, and the action moves along fairly quickly. ( )

David attempts to unravel the mystery between two elderly men who he meets in the Hebrew Home for the Aged while doing community service. ( )

David is a twelve-year-old boy living in Jerusalem whose best friend happens to be a seventy-year-old man who is accused of stealing a priceless painting and challenged to a duel.