If You Find This - Hardcover

Baker, Matthew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316240087 ISBN 13: 9780316240086

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2015

Synopsis

Mixing mystery and adventure in the tradition of Louis Sachar, Avi, and E.L. Konigsburg, If You Find This is the story of unlikely friendships, unexpected bravery and eleven-year-old Nicholas Funes's quest to prove his grandfather's treasure is real.
Nicholas is a math and music genius with no friends and a huge problem: His father has lost his job, and they'll have to sell their house, which holds the only memory Nicholas has of his younger brother. Just in time, Nicholas's senile grandfather arrives, filled with tales of priceless treasure he has hidden somewhere in town--but where?
With the help of misfit classmates, two grandfathers, a ghosthouse, hidden messages, séances, and an uncanny mind for numbers, Nicholas stages a nursing home breakout, tangles with high schoolers in smugglers' tunnels, and gets swept up in a duel with the biggest bullies in the neighborhood. Will it be enough to find the treasure and save his house?

About this title

About the Author

Matthew Baker's stories have appeared in American Short Fiction, New England Review, The Kenyon Review, and Best of the Net, and been shortlisted in Best American Short Stories. He has held creative writing fellowships through the Fulbright Commission, the MacDowell Colony, and Vanderbilt University, among others. He was born and lives in Michigan. If You Find This is his first novel.

Review

Praise for If You Find This:A Booklist Top Ten 2015 Debut Novel
An Edgar Award Nominee for Best Juvenile Mystery

"This unique book is both a ripping adventure and a piercing portrait of an extraordinary boy. You've never heard a tale told like this... For that, and many other reasons, it demands to be read and discussed."―Adam Gidwitz, New York Times bestselling author of A Tale Dark and Grimm

"Lively, entertaining and satisfying."―Kirkus

* "Reminiscent of Louis Sachar's Holes, this is a rich, captivating tale about family and redemption that redefines the meaning of treasure."―Booklist,


"Smugglers caves, graveyards, ghost houses, seances, and...maps come together to make an intriguing mystery for the group to solve as the characters wrestle with their past selves in hopes of a better future. The story is enhanced with musical and mathematical notations (terms like "forte" and "piano" appear as subscript throughout, modifying actions and dialogue), giving readers a glimpse into Nicholas's impressive brain and adding an unusual layer of interest and beauty to debut author Baker's storytelling."―Publishers Weekly

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0316240087
• ISBN 13: 9780316240086
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368