The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman / Meg Wolitzer / 294 pages

Thoroughly enjoyable book for those upper elementary & middle school age kids who feel "different." The story revolves around the national Youth Scrabble Tournament. Yep...Scrabble Tournament...Googled it and there are youth Scrabble championships! (As all parents know, there is a competition for everything.) Duncan Dorfman, son of a single mom, wants to fit in at school and discovers he has a special power...being able to read letters with his fingers. Nate is the skateboarder whose father's loss at the tournament impacted his entire life. April is the only non-sporty member in a family totally focused on sports. In the end, each character learns something about himself or herself, about other kids and about adults in their lives. This book might work with the kids who like Blue Balliett, Ellen Raskin, E.L. Konigsburg, or Eric Berlin and those who don't feel like they fit into the crowd. They might want to try Scrabble too....lots of tips are in the book!