Update: I took this review down from 4 to 3 stars:
We still like this series, but expanding on my feelings about leaving girls out or treating them differently from the boys in this series, the more we read in the series, the more I notice things I wish the author would leave out. Namely, jokes about a "fat" woman (this was a parrot mocking her incessantly in the courtroom and it is repeated over and over again, and notes her shame), just don't think its necessary to make this series good; all male classes - the girls don't get to watch the trials; descriptions of frat houses and parties (in the book where his friend is abducted). Frankly, I just didn't want to describe what frats were and why all the mayhem and beer to my 8 year olds as I was reading. I think some of the good ol' boy knee slapping humor could be left out and this book could be edited to be empowering for both genders.
____
My 8 year old daughters love mysteries and suspense. When I saw that John Grisham had started a series for kids, specifically, about a 13 year old boy, Theo, who is a gung-ho wanna be trial lawyer in the making, I thought they’d enjoy these books and I made the purchase.
Sure enough, they were hooked the first three chapters into the first book. I know when a book is a hit when they ask me to read more. We also discussed the current chapter on the way to summer camp this morning. Believe me, this doesn’t happen with 10% of the books we read together as a family.
I really like Theo’s character, bright, kind, smart and with his own law office located in his parents’ law firm, he is a fixture at the courthouse and in the community. As great as he is, I kind of wish there were some equally strong female characters in the books for my daughters to identify with.
- Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account
