“Are you really a thief?” That’s the question that has haunted fourteen-year-old Ezekiel Blast all his life. But he’s not a thief, he just has a talent for finding things. Not a superpower—a micropower. Because what good is finding lost bicycles and hair scrunchies, especially when you return them to their owners and everyone thinks you must have stolen them in the first place? If only there were … were some way to use Ezekiel’s micropower for good, to turn a curse into a blessing. His friend Beth thinks there must be, and so does a police detective investigating the disappearance of a little girl. When tragedy strikes, it’s up to Ezekiel to use his talent to find what matters most. Master storyteller Orson Scott Card delivers a touching and funny, compelling and smart novel about growing up, harnessing your potential, and finding your place in the world, no matter how old you are.
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What can I say? It’s Orson Scott Card! And it’s well worth the read!
Wonderful concept
Orson Scott Card meets Dean Koontz. What’s not to love?
Well crafted story, based on an unexpected premise.
of all the genres car4d writes this is the polished tr0phy . ask your teens if this would vbe a movie theywill watch.
(2.5 / 5)
Fourteen-year-old Ezekiel Blast has a talent for finding things and knowing who they belong to. Along with this talent comes a strong need to return things to the owner. This has earned him the label of thief by people who assume he stole the items in the first place. Now ostracized by peers and authority figures alike, he is not expecting to be befriended by fellow outcast Beth, who is thirteen, but looks like she’s seven. When he’s asked to use his “micropower” to find a missing girl, Ezekiel initially refuses for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is that he finds things, not people. However, with the help of his friend and some others, Ezekiel realizes that there may be more to his micropower than he ever knew.
I was pretty excited when I was approved to read an advance copy of this book, since Orson Scott Card is a big name author. I haven’t read anything else by him (though Ender’s Game is on my TBR short list), but fortunately, I’ve read other reviews that say this isn’t like his other, especially earlier, work. Because this could have turned me off to his writing otherwise. I struggled a lot with various aspects of this book.
My biggest issue was the dialog. Not just the dialog itself, but the way it was framed. I’m a huge dialog person, both in my reading and my writing. And this book was something like 75% dialog. Because outside of the actual events that occurred surrounding the lost girl (and even during that), it felt like the characters were always either standing around or sitting around talking. And there was very little in the way of action happening during the talking, but while this worked in Lock In (which I also read recently), it just didn’t work the same in this book. I’m not sure if I can explain why though. Maybe because the MC in Lock In is more of a mind at work, then a physical person? Maybe because it wasn’t 75% of the book?
But then, it might be because of the actual content of the dialog. There was so much snark and snappiness, it was just overwhelming. Almost like it was trying too hard to be witty and intelligent. Most of the characters talked nearly identical, even the minor ones, so it was really difficult to get a sense of who was talking. The only thing that really led me to understand that Ezekiel was particularly smart was that the detective said as much to him. But sometimes, the detective talked just like him, except without the constant need to correct people, so I guess that’s what made Ezekiel smarter? Some dialog scenes actually read as if the characters were doing nothing but one-up’ing each other in being more and more correct about what they were trying to say. And I really didn’t buy either Ezekiel or Beth as early teens due to their dialog.
Ezekiel’s micropower is analyzed to death, right up until the end of the book. On the other hand, a few certain elements (that I won’t detail for the sake of spoilers) were left completely unexplained. And there were certain things that happened in this book that reminded me of my 10-year-old self writing about a girl who got her best friend adopted alongside her simply because she was plucky enough to ask. It just felt a bit too unlikely in several spots (including what would likely allowed in police work). But maybe Card has done some research and knows some things I don’t (I am definitely not an expert).
As far as the plot goes, it got off to a bit of a slow start, and then started to get interesting. And then went a surprising direction right at about the halfway point and became too predictable because of that. I know this is vague, but I don’t want to spoil anything. And a warning: it’s fairly dark and gritty for a YA book, dealing with things like kidnapping of young children, child pornography, parent death, and even one death scene (not a parent) described a bit graphically.
Now, the positives. Because I did give this book some stars. Ezekiel’s dad. I really like seeing a parent portrayed in such a great light, especially a father, because let’s face it, they’re pretty beat up in fiction of various mediums these days. I also liked the way the detective treated Ezekiel, for the most part, outside of the unlikely things. I really did like the premise, and even the plot, for the first half of the book. Then it felt like a rinse and repeat for the second half.
I struggled with how many stars to give this book. While I was reading it, I was hovering around 3-3.5. But by the end, I couldn’t figure out what I was seeing that gave it even that much redeeming value. I hate writing a review like this, and I will sum up by saying that a lot of this is personal preference. But it really didn’t suit my preference. I think there are plenty of people who would enjoy the quick, snarky dialog though, considering that the writing actually reminded me of a few people I know. So for those who enjoy that type of writing, it’s probably worth a read.
Thank you to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Orson Scott Card is now a grand master of writing! His characterization is spot on and very clever! Interesting and a bit suspenseful too.
3.5 stars
This was a cute middle-grade slightly paranormal mystery. My first by this author, though he’s been on my radar for a while. Glad I took a chance outside my normal genres on this one, it was fun.
A 14-year-old boy who keeps to himself becomes friends with a girl who looks as if she is in elementary school but is actually a 10th grader. The boy isolates himself because of micro-power, as opposed to a superpower: he can tell if an object is lost and who owns it. The police ask him to help them find a missing girl. He says no. Then his friend disappears.
Greet read. Interesting characters. Any adult would like this book.
I was disappointed in this Orson Scott Card book. I think he might consider sticking to Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Orson Scott Card just became one of my favorite authors, I think. Such an incredibly creative idea!
Ezekiel is one of a number of high school kids with a “micro-power,” or an unusual and apparently useless gift. In his case, the gift is that he finds lost objects, and inherently “knows” who they belong to and where that person can be found. The problem is, of course, if you return lost objects to their owners with no explanation for how you found it or knew it belonged to them, they’ll invariably leap to the conclusion that you stole it in the first place. Ezekiel learns to resist his gift after a number of run-ins with the police, but still has the reputation of a thief. Then Beth, a 10th grader who, as a proportional dwarf, looks like she’s about six, catches up with him and essentially forces him to walk her to and from school. She claims this is for protection: no one will bully her, as long as she’s inside of Ezekiel’s ostracism bubble. They become unlikely friends, very much against Ezekiel’s will.
Then a school guidance counselor matches Ezekiel up with a group of kids with other micropowers attempting to learn about the limitations and benefits of their gifts. And through this, a police detective finds and approaches Ezekiel with the case of a missing little girl. He asks Ezekiel to use his gift to try to find her. Ezekiel resists at first, not sure he can do it and also concerned that if he does, he’ll be accused of being in league with the kidnappers. But with Beth’s influence, he decides he has to at least try. It turns out he finds the girl without a lot of difficulty. I was surprised that this came as early in the story as it did, but this was just a setup for the real story. I won’t spoil it, because I really didn’t see it coming. It becomes a bit of a supernatural crime thriller, I guess, but a “micro”-supernatural thriller–totally different from your usual X-Men type of story.
Despite some of the darker ideas in the story, it definitely has a happy ending. I also love the characters. Card has a very recognizable narrative voice, having also recently read “Enchantment”– very dry and sarcastic, and yet poignant and compelling. (I read “Ender’s Game” years ago and also liked it, but can’t remember it well. I’ll probably have to check it out again.) Will be looking at his backlist for sure!
I have read most of the author’s books. This one was a YA book and was very entertaining and appropriate for the genre. The voice used by the author was authentic to the character.
Good lessons about human nature, interesting premise, vivid and interesting characters.
I think I enjoyed this story by Orson Scott Card the most since his “Enders Game.”
Ezekiel and Beth are loners. He finds things people don’t know they’ve lost; she is a 16 year-old proportional dwarf. Their adventures together delight and frighten us as they both learn to trust others. At the same time, this is a dark and disturbing tale.
Not for wimps with small vocabularies
Very interesting premise, well-drawn characters. Amazing dialogue, very funny at times. Is there a sequel? I’d read it immediately.
Really engaging characters and a story that almost felt like it took place in the neighborhood where I grew up. An excellent twist on powered humans in a very “real” feeling universe. Loved it!
Kept me turning the page to see where this was leading. Orson Scott Card is wonderful at building characters you can identify with.