Richardson, Nigel. The wrong hands.

RICHARDSON, Nigel. The wrong hands. Read by Euan Morton. 6 cds. 7 hrs. Listening Library. 2005/2006. 0-7393-3608-8. $50.00. Vinyl; plot, author, reader notes. JS

From the review of the hardcover book in KLIATT, July 2006: "... Fourteen-year-old Graham Sinclair has more problems than just being a poor country boy from Yorkshire. He also has huge, ugly hands, a crazy mother, a simple mind, and a secret that keeps getting him in trouble. In despair, his parents send him to live for a while in London with his shady uncle, and he ends up saving a baby from a plane crash, becoming a national hero, the victim of an enterprising tabloid reporter, and then a suspect in several sexual assault cases. Spoiler alert: his secret is that his hands turn into wings and he can fly, which is how he saves the baby. It is also how he thinks he can prove that he is not the Popsock Perv, which in reality, will prove nothing of the kind and only make him a sideshow freak enriching an ambitious reporter. Fortunately, Graham's lack of artifice keeps him stumbling out of trouble ... and in the end, he is aided by a true and faithful friend who has her own weirdness issues...."

Morton's reading with its heavy Yorkshire dialect adds immeasurably to this story of a young man beset with all the usual torment of being 14, made worse by his huge hands. His voice captures the angst and confusion of this young man with a secret he is too afraid to tell anyone. Nola Theiss, Sanibel, FL

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers.

S--Recommended for senior high school students.