Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer

I enjoyed this kid's version of a legal suspense novel. Grisham doesn't truly paint a realistic picture of what kids are like now, at least not in my experience, but He doesn't ask you to bend reality too far. ( )

Even though I'm not a kid, I do enjoy reading books with kid protagonists. A short book, this one reads quickly and has a small amount of suspense, I'd have preferred to see much more, however, Theo is a great character on the surface and I think Grisham could do a lot with him. ( )

Theodore Boone is a smart eighth grader who pretty much grew up in a courtroom because his parents are both lawyers in his small hometown. He is the go-to guy for legal advice. So it is not surprising that another student he knows confides thathe knows someone who has a story to tell about a recent murder case now at trial. this is obviously Book One of a longer story and is only partially resolved at the end of the book. It takes kind of a long itme to get up to speed, but very thoroughly describes the courtroom, its players, and the law. Not compelling enough for me to keep reading the rest of the series. ( )

This story moved way too slowly. Apparently the plan is to carry the plot of this book out for several books. Unfortunately that means formulating each installment around a sub-plot. In this first installment, the sub-plot revolving the plight of an immigrant family in a homeless shelter was not enough to hold the book together. All the actual tension in the novel surrounded the central plot of the inevitable series, but it was not enough to make me care if I read the second installment or not. I don't care about any of the characters and I don't care how the plot resolves. This could have been a winner if it had stuck to the main plot and moved at something faster than a turtle's pace. ( )

This book is not a satisfying read. Grisham's business plan is too obvious - begin the plot in this entry, write the sequel to continue it and resolve it three or four entries down the road. Why sell one book, when you can sell four or five? Thus, the many threads of the plot and subplots only begin in this book and absolutely nothing is resolved by the end. Theodore Boone, the precocious kid lawyer, is only mildly interesting. The best character in the book is his disbarred uncle, Ike. Grisham beats up the reader along the way with his heavy handling of the subplots - we get broken families, drunk driving, the mortgage mess and the struggles of legal and illegal immigrants, all in this one book. Finally, the end and the menacing glares of the thuggish investigator, which are meant to threaten Theo and foreshadow bad things to come in the next book - unfortunately, they don't rise to the level of an even mediocre cliffhanger. Not a total waste of time, but nearly so. At least it was a fast read. ( )