Leapholes [Hardcover]

James Grippando (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2006

Ryan Coolidge hates middle school and is in the worst kind of trouble-trouble with the law. The one person who can help Ryan is a mysterious old lawyer named Hezekiah. Hezekiah may have magical powers, or he may have the most elaborate computerized law library ever conceived. Either way, together, Ryan and Hezekiah do their legal research by zooming through leapholes, physically entering the law books, and coming face-to-face with actual people from some of our nation's most famous cases-like Rosa Parks and Dred Scott-who will help Ryan defend himself in court. It is time travel with a legal twist, where law books and important legal precedents come to life.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up–Racing away from home on his bike to avoid being dragged to another embarrassing visit with his imprisoned father, a South Florida middle schooler is hit by a car and swept into this time-travel thriller. Ryan faces a number of narrow escapes and gradually comes to accept that he has been recruited by Hezekiah, an elderly African-American Legal Eagle, to succeed him. Hezekiah uses leapholes in conjunction with law books to travel back in time to meet the people behind the cases that have established precedent, good or bad, and that determine our current legal environment. What's not to like about a book that says, Nowhere is the imagination less constrained than in a library and that incorporates lawyer jokes? Unfortunately, weak characterization and circumstantial plot make this novel less appealing for sophisticated teen readers. A portion of the story involves Dred Scott v. Sandford, and the author has to explain abolition and the Underground Railroad to a clueless Ryan, even though he has studied the Civil War. Extensive end matter includes responses from 19 famous lawyers about why they entered the profession. Fans of Horowitz might bite on this, but not of Grisham.–Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Publisher

On April 19, 1841, the American ship William Brown hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic while en route from Liverpool to Philadelphia. It was loaded with Irish emigrants. Roughly half the passengers went down with the ship, and the rest piled into two lifeboats. The boat commanded by the first mate was so badly overloaded that it began to sink. In the face of crashing waves and a driving rainstorm, the first mate in utter desperation ordered his crew to lighten the load. Twelve men and two women were thrown overboard and drowned at sea. When the survivors finally reached land, one of the crewmen who had thrown passengers overboard faced criminal charges. It was undisputed that the lifeboat would have sunk and all would have perished if it had remained in its overloaded state. However, the American judge who decided the prisoner's fate wrote that the passengers should have cast lots to determine who should live and who should die. This opinion sparked sharp debate among jurists and legal scholars. Some believed that casting lots was fair, almost an appeal to God. Others believed that casting lots was effectively "playing God," a practice that dehumanized all of us. The case of The William Brown has fascinated me since law school. It presents the ultimate survival dilemma -- to save ourselves or to save others. That dilemma is a theme that runs throughout Leapholes. Eleven-year-old Ryan Coolidge is forced to confront that issue head on. But he does it in a way he had never imagined he would. Ryan encounters a magical lawyer who puts a new spin on time travel -- a lawyer with the power of legal "leapholes," the power to bring to life the people behind famous legal decisions like The William Brown. All of the cases woven into the Leapholes storyline are actual cases from American legal history. The case of The William Brown is reported at United States v. Holmes (1842). The Supreme Court's decision that slaves are property, not people, appears at Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). The slave doctrine that "the brood follows the dam" was embraced by the U.S. Supreme Court in Prigg v. Pennsylvania (1842). I've tried to present these and other snippets of legal history in a way that makes for exciting reading. Hopefully, it will provoke thoughtful discussion, not only about the law, but also about the people whose lives were affected by the thousands of reported decisions in our law libraries. It's a fun way to discover that legal precedents are not just words on paper. They are about real people with real problems. And for many, the law was a matter of life and death.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: American Bar Association (September 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590316665
• ISBN-13: 978-1590316665
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #819,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

After twelve years as a trial lawyer with Miami's most prestigious law firm, James Grippando is now a national best-selling author of thirteen suspenseful thrillers in as many years, including Lying with Strangers, When Darkness Falls, Got the Look, Hear No Evil, Last to Die, Beyond Suspicion, A King's Ransom, Under Cover of Darkness, Found Money, The Abduction, The Informant and The Pardon. His first novel for young adults, Leapholes, was published in 2006, as well as his first short-story, Operation Northwoods, which appeared in the critically acclaimed Thriller anthology. His novels are enjoyed worldwide in twenty-four languages.

James's first job out of law school plunged him headlong into death penalty cases. That experience was an inspiration for his 1994 debut novel, The Pardon, a legal thriller that critics heralded as a "bona fide blockbuster." Beyond Suspicion (2002) was the long-awaited sequel to that first novel, and it launched an exciting new series that features Miami criminal defense attorney Jack Swyteck and that critics have heralded as "John Grisham meets Robert Ludlum."

As a lawyer, James was an avid writer. His numerous scholarly articles appeared in some of nation's top law reviews, and they are frequently cited with approval by the courts. His trial practice ranged from complex corporate litigation to class actions on behalf of chicken farmers. As a frequent volunteer in Florida's guardian ad litem program, he helped provide legal representation to neglected children in family court proceedings. He was a faculty member with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at Nova Southeast University. He was named by Florida Trend Magazine as one of Florida's emerging leaders, and in 2006 he received the Distinguished Author Award from Scranton University. His alma mater is the University of Florida, where he graduated second in his undergraduate class and earned his law degree with honors. He now serves Of Counsel to David Boies' law firm, Boies Schiller & Flexner, LLP.

James lives and writes in Coral Gables, Florida, and he is married to Tiffany, who has been his unofficial editor since book one.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Leapholes, October 17, 2006

By 

Chris - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leapholes (Hardcover)

Every Saturday for the past year, eleven-year-old Ryan indignantly visits his father who sits in a jail cell. Supposedly, his father is innocent; at least that's what his father tells Ryan. Yet, Ryan witnessed with his own eyes as his father pleaded guilty in front of a judge. Ryan feels his father has betrayed him with the lies and the claimed crime, and it doesn't help at all that the entire town now shuns him and his family. As the time for this Saturday's visit approaches, Ryan finally can't stand it another minute and decides to leave. He's not running away, per se, he just decides to be somewhere else during prison visiting hour.

As Ryan furiously rides off on his bike, he experiences a bad collision with a vehicle. Wounded and out of sorts, Ryan struggles as a flat-faced stranger picks him up and loads him into the back of a station wagon. Then Ryan looses consciousness. He wakes up in the hospital feeling sore and bruised but not seriously hurt. Still not ready to face his father again, he decides to slip out before his mom can claim him. But before he can leave, a fire alarm sounds and chaos erupts! Ryan knows the way out, yet he witnesses Kaylee, the girl from the hospital bed next to his, heading in the wrong direction. He has to help her.

He finds Kaylee and four others, one of whom leads them in the wrong direction. Soon they are hopelessly lost, cut off by the smoke and flames. They break through a locked door and find themselves in an infectious disease lab --- and exposed to a horribly deadly disease. The doctors have five antidotes for the six infected people. They agree to draw straws, with Kaylee losing. She will die.

But Ryan refuses to accept this result. Before anyone can react, he grabs the five antidotes and divides them into six doses...but it doesn't work, and four people end up dead. Ryan is arrested for manslaughter.

Terrified and alone, yet still certain he had done the right thing, Ryan is taken to prison to await trial. He soon meets Hezekiah, the eccentric old lawyer assigned to him. Immediately, Ryan realizes that Hezekiah is no ordinary lawyer, but he has no clue as to just how remarkable the sneaker-wearing lawyer really is. Hezekiah is part of a special group of lawyers called Legal Eagles, who battle the evil in the law system. Hezekiah and the Legal Eagles introduce Ryan to a world of law that he could have never imagined --- one with time travel! Using special tools called leapholes, Ryan and Hezekiah travel back in time to actually witness and experience events leading up to the laws working in the court system today! And the surprises don't end there; Hezekiah invites Ryan to join the Legal Eagles. But when Hezekiah disappears into the past, Ryan must find the courage and strength to go find him. And what Ryan sees may finally bring peace and understanding back between him and his father.

Author Mr. James Grippando is no novice to writing with eleven books under his belt. And LEAPHOLES, book number twelve, is his first novel for young adults. Mr. Grippando uses his lawyer background to weave a fast-paced story that takes a non-traditional look at the law, and very importantly, the people behind those laws. Not just a story for future lawyers, many will enjoy reading an exciting journey that brings to life the sometimes confusing and seemingly remote world of law. Added bonuses include a list of discussion questions that will assist in classroom and book club conversations, and a collection of essays by lawyers on their backgrounds and why they chose to study law.

--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author of Finding My Light and The Black Pond
--- Courtesy of [...]

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Middle School book, September 30, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Leapholes (Hardcover)

I really liked Leapholes and would give it 4.5 stars out of five, but i think someone a little younger than me (say 11 or 12) would definitely give it 5 stars. This is a great book for seventh grade history students because they are studying Civics and learning about cases like Dred Scott v. Sandford. And this is also a good book for eighth graders as they are learning American History and may of the things discussed in Leapholes, such as the underground railroad, are taught to these students. I thought it was very cool how the author gave a certain famous American president a cameo role (I won't say who, since it might spoil the mystery). The only fault I found was that the titles of "Legal Eagles" and "Legal Evil" were a little childish, but I thought that the way the author handled this was good--he basically has the characters making fun of the terms too, saying that no one should hire a lawyer who can't make fun of himself. The mystery in this book is fantastic. You will want to keep turning the pages to learn the meaning of the riddle "where the brood follows the dam," and the final surprise involving Ryan's family is one that I would never have seen coming. (I read many Nancy Drew books when I was younger and was almost always able to figure them out). I think Leapholes should become a series, and I could easily see it covering all periods of time and places. Not just the American legal system, by maybe the British or the Ancient Greek laws. Overall, a great read!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great YA novel, October 2, 2006

By 

Lock-em-up Dave (Palm Springs, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leapholes (Hardcover)

I got an advanced copy (a "galley", I think it's called) of this book due to my involvement in the ABA Criminal Justice Section. While I normally hesitate wasting time on children's or young adult fiction with all the reading I have to do as a lawyer, I made an exception in this case because this is a Grippando novel and I'm a fan.
I'm glad I did, because this novel is quite excellent, both as fiction and as a teaching tool for young people. The premise is (as in most science-fiction) a bit fantastic: A young man learns how to travel back in time, and in doing so experiences the facts and details underlying some of the most important legal cases in US history. In the process, he learns a lot about himself as well.
I particularly liked the appendix to the book, which consists of a number of essays from famous lawyers and judges, discussing what the legal system means to them.
I think this novel is both entertaining for science fiction fans, and educational for those interested in the legal system. As an adult novel, it is worthy of a read. As a young person's novel, I give it my highest rating.