If You Find This - Softcover

Matthew Baker

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1471404528 ISBN 13: 9781471404528

Publisher: Hot Key Books, 2015

Synopsis

Three boys, two grandpas, a tree, a map and some hidden treasure... Let the adventure begin.

Eleven-year-old Nicholas Funes knows he's weird. He plays the violin far too well to be cool, he collects square roots and prime numbers and, weirdest of all, he talks to a tree who he believes is his brother. Plus, he doesn't have all that many friends. But even he is about to struggle with how strange his life is about to get. His long-lost and never-spoken-about Grandfather Rose turns up on Nicholas's doorstep one day, fresh out of a lifetime's prison sentence and suffering from dementia.

Curious about this grandfather he's never known, Nicholas tries to unravel Grandfather Rose's stories. In particular, one about the family treasure that he hid years ago and that will be the solution to all their rather pressing financial woes. Because his mother needs to sell their house, and if they leave the house, they'll leave Nicholas's brother behind. And Nicholas is desperate to keep what little family he has together. With the help of two extremely unlikely allies, Nicholas must unwrap the secrets of his family's past in order to give them a shot at a future.

About this title

About the Author

Matthew Baker was born in Michigan. He grew up in a house in the woods where the trees were as tall as towers. He and the neighbour kids ran wild through the woods with rusted machetes and homemade spears. One summer they built a trap - dug a pit in the ground, tossed stinkweed from the creek into the bottom of the pit, then covered the hole with sticks and leaves, and ran off to wait for something to fall in. They were hoping to catch some sort of monster. Instead, they caught a parent. (Some might argue that's the same thing.) IF YOU FIND THIS is his first novel. Visit him online at: www.mwektaehtabr.com

From School Library Journal

Gr 4–6—Eleven-year-old Nicholas is a music and math genius who has trouble relating to most people. Baker has placed small italicized musical dynamics (forte, pianissimo, crescendo) throughout the text, emphasizing Nick's thought patterns. When his family home is in jeopardy of being sold, Nick takes it upon himself to find legendary family heirlooms, hoping they can save his house. Despite his lack of social skills, he gains the help of other social misfits from school as well as two grandfathers sprung from a nursing home, one being his senile Grandpa Rose. Their hideout is a crumbling, haunted house where they all work at unraveling the clues to finding the treasure. Throughout comical, quirky scenarios involving a séance, a confrontation with high school toughs in smuggler tunnels, and romps in a graveyard where the final clue and solution is found, Baker maintains a steady pace. Written with tongue-in-cheek humor, the characters engage in some unsafe and unsavory practices as they go about their adventures—dueling with firecrackers, setting fire to stolen backpacks, lying, and stealing. In the hands of savvy, mature readers, this intriguing and multilayered novel will provoke interesting discussions.—D. Maria LaRocco, Cuyahoga Public Library, Strongsville, OH

Edition details

• Publisher: Hot Key Books
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1471404528
• ISBN 13: 9781471404528
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336