Richardson, Nigel. The wrong hands.

RICHARDSON, Nigel. The wrong hands. Random House, Knopf. 272p. c2006.0-375-83459-1. $15.95. JS

Combine the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "A Very Old Man With Wings" and the clueless narrative voice of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and the result may be something like this novel. 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's 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 (sort of like Mr. Magoo) and in the end, he is aided by a true and faithful friend who has her own weirdness issues.

This is an interesting read, although sometimes the language, British and Yorkshire slang, is hard to understand. Readers can debate what the author is trying to say about how innocence leaves a person both vulnerable and protected and the acceptance of everyday wonders. Myrna Marler, Assoc. Prof. of English, BYU, Provo, UT

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.