Theodore Boone is your typical 13-year old American boy whose main passion in life is not video games or sports, but law. Lucky for him, his parents are both lawyers and he is close friends with just about everyone in the small town courthouse. When a trial for a local murder is held, nothing can keep Theo away from the case. But a friend's cousin approaches Theo about something he saw that is related to the murder, and Theo goes from being a courtroom observer to someone who has evidence that could convict a man for murder.

There is nothing better for a beach vacation than reading a Grisham thriller. I was excited to see Grisham's first children's book, since now I could share this author with my 12 year old son. But even though Grisham's adult mysteries are thrilling and hard to put down, I found this short mystery a bit ho-hum. But not only was the plot lacklaster, the portrayal of Theodore and his teenage friends was shallow and unrealistic. In one scene, Theo asks someone, "May I ask why?" And when his class makes a field trip to see the opening remarks of the trial, the boys ask the teacher what they should wear. "Should we wear suits?" You could spend an entire week on a middle school campus and not hear a single child say "May I ask why?" I think it is more likely that these kids were abducted by aliens than they are typical American boys. Maybe it is because the book I listened to had a very adult Richard Thomas narrating but no one sounded like a teenager, in both dialog and voice. It almost seemed like the Hardy Boys time traveled to the present. Where Grisham is normally exceptional - riveting plots with lots of action - this was very toned down, maybe to suit the children's market. I did think there was interesting lawyer dialog that kids could learn from, but it was not compelling enough for me to recommend this book.