Word Nerd

Twelve-year-old Ambrose is a glass-half-full kind of guy. A self-described "friendless nerd," he moves from place to place every couple of years with his overprotective mother, Irene. When some bullies at his new school almost kill him by slipping a peanut into his sandwich -- even though they know he has a deathly allergy -- Ambrose is philosophical. Irene, however, is not and decides that Ambrose will be home-schooled.

Alone in the evenings when Irene goes to work, Ambrose pesters Cosmo, the twenty-five-year-old son of the Greek landlords who live upstairs. Cosmo has just been released from jail for breaking and entering to support a drug habit. Quite by accident, Ambrose discovers that they share a love of Scrabble and coerces Cosmo into taking him to the West Side Scrabble Club, where Cosmo falls for Amanda, the club director. Posing as Ambrose's Big Brother to impress her, Cosmo is motivated to take Ambrose to the weekly meetings and to give him lessons in self-defense. Cosmo, Amanda, and Ambrose soon form an unlikely alliance and, for the first time in his life, Ambrose blossoms. The characters at the Scrabble Club come to embrace Ambrose for who he is and for their shared love of words. There's only one problem: Irene has no idea what Ambrose is up to.

In this brilliantly observed novel, author Susin Nielsen transports the reader to the world of competitive Scrabble as seen from the honest yet funny viewpoint of a boy who's searching for acceptance and for a place to call home.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Tundra Books (NY)
Published: 09/09/2008
ISBN: 9780887768750
Pages: 256
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 7.88h x 6.50w x 0.86d
Award: IndieFab awards - Second Place
Award: Manitoba Young Readers Choice Award - Winner

Review Citations: Quill & Quire 09/01/2008 pg. 60
School Library Journal 12/01/2008 pg. 134
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 10/01/2008 pg. 38 - Recommended
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 09/01/2008
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2009 pg. 78 - Recommended, Satisfactory

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 126888 / Word Nerd
Reading Level: 4.8 / Interest Level: Middle Grade / Point Value: 7