The kids and I finished two fine books this past week: The Lemonade Crime and Captain Nobody. Both solid reads, I found the latter to be particularly excellent because of its humor and endearing characters.
Newton Newman lives in the shadow of his older brother, Chris, a high school football hero. When Chris ends up in comma because of a hit during the winning touchdown of the "big game," his brother finds himself face to face with himself: an overlooked, underestimated (darling) boy.
Together with his loyal friends, J.J. and Cecil, Newt discovers his "inner other": Captain Nobody, a Halloween costume that transforms how he and others view him. The tale is one that had my entire family chuckling during our long roadtrip to Minnesota. A person cannot help but root for the underdog, the unnoticed, the proverbial "little guy." Newt comes to see how valuable he is just being himself. And isn't that a zinger of a lesson for us all?
How such excellent books go under the radar like this puzzles me. I give it five stars.
