Theodore Boone - Young Lawyer by John Grisham

REVIEWED BY JORDAN DAVIS

Theodore Boone, a thirteen year old boy, living in Strattenburg, dreams of being a lawyer. His mother, Marcella, a divorce lawyer, is rarely at home, and when she is she has no time for Theo. His father, Woods, is also a lawyer. He is a big man and he is very strict with Theo. Together, they own a business called Boone & Boone Lawyers. Theo adores his dog, Judge, and plays with him whenever he gets the chance. Theo goes to school like a regular kid, but he is often at the court house, meaning he comes late to school and is forced to come up with excuses about why he is late.
Pete Duffy, who is accused of murdering his wife, is on trial and about to walk, unless proof is found. Theo is dragged into this case, because he knows all about what really happened. Being friends with Judge Gantry, the judge of the trial, is allowed to attend the trial. When a kid at his school tells Theo that his cousin Julio is the only witness who saw what really happened, he is forced to ask his some-what weird Uncle Ike, a lawyer, what he should do. But Julio is also an illegal immigrant, so is afraid to come forward and tell the police what he saw. Theo needs to convince Julio that he should come forward, or a murderer will get away with it. This plot is very intriguing and has lots of twists to it.
There are two very strong messages in this book. The first message is that justice will always prevail. No matter what you do, or how long you try to avoid it, you will always get caught and be punished accordingly. The second message is that you should always follow your dreams. Theo always wanted to be a lawyer and be in a big case, and that’s exactly what he did.
The title of the book gives you a slight hint as to what the story is about. The title ‘Theodore Boone - Young Lawyer’, hints that the book is about a boy, who thinks that he is a lawyer. This is a good title. Another title could possibly be ‘A Murderer on the Loose’
The American author, John Grisham, has written many other well known books, such as ‘A Time to Kill’ and ‘The Firm’. However he very rarely writes children’s books. He is mostly an adult fiction writer. Some of his books have been made into films including ‘A Time to Kill’ and ‘Runaway Jury’.
This is a very enjoyable book that I found very interesting. Theo is the main protagonist in the story and is a very likeable character with a sense of humor. This book has a bit of detail in it, but not too much to make you bored and stop reading.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes an interesting and easy read, with twists along the way. I recommend this to readers between the ages of 10-14. I rate this book an 8 ½ out of 10.