In The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman (Penguin Group, 256 pp., for readers ages 8-12), bestselling adult novelist Meg Wolitzer brings together an unlikely collection of young characters at 鈥� of all things 鈥� the Youth Scrabble Tournament. A homeschooled skateboarder, a girl on a quest to find the mystery boy she met once on a family vacation, a rich bully 鈥� all they have in common is Scrabble.
Then there鈥檚 Duncan, an ordinary kid living with his single mom. Duncan 鈥渄idn鈥檛 have any passions, let alone any powers.鈥� Then one night he surprises even himself with his magic fingertips, which could propel him from geekdom to desirable Scrabble partner.
A budding romance and an absent father may speak more to the older end of the middle-grade group, but there鈥檚 plenty of kid-friendly humor, adventure, and excitement in Wolitzer鈥檚 first foray into writing for this age group. In the end, Duncan and his Scrabble-playing friends make the right, ethical choices and mostly have fun along the way.
